Olympic Torch Relay at the Australian National Memorial

On 4 July, during its visit to the Somme Department, the Olympic Torch Relay will visit the Australian National Memorial. Access to the Memorial and the Sir John Monash Centre in the morning could be affected, but the Centre will open as usual at 10am. Find out more about how to view the event.

Following tradition, the Olympic Torch Relay leaves Olympia in Greece and crosses the host country of the Olympic Games. For the 2024 Games, the Olympic Torch has already crossed a large part of France and will visit the Somme on Thursday 4 July.

As the 48th leg of the relay, the Somme will host the Olympic Torch Relay in several key towns of the region: Abbeville, Albert, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Doullens, La Chaussée-Tirancourt, Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux, at the Australian National Memorial.

Due to the exceptional nature of this event, road access to the Sir John Monash Centre and the Australian National Memorial will be partially restricted on this day, to both vehicle and foot traffic.

The road between Villers-Bretonneux and Fouilloy, the D23, will be closed from 6am and the spectator areas (located along the D23 to the South of the Memorial) will only be accessible on foot. The road will reopen to traffic at 11am.

The Torch Relay will commence at 9am and is expected to be complete by 9.20am. On arrival at the site, the Torch will enter the north pavilion of the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, before travelling past more than 2,100 graves of Commonwealth soldiers. Once at the memorial, it will run along the walls, where the names of nearly 11,000 Australian soldiers who went missing in France during the First World War are inscribed, before ascending the Memorial’s tower.

Spectators are invited to visit the Sir John Monash Centre after the event, which will open as usual from 10am to 5pm. However, please note, that the D23 will not be open to vehicles until 11am.

On the map below, you will find essential information for the arrival of the Torch, including its route around the site and the location of the spectator zones.