Workshops and Presentations

The Sir John Monash Centre regularly invites our partners to present their sites and the Australian history connected to them during workshops and presentations.
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Presentation by the Vignacourt 14-18 Interpretation Centre and the Underground City of Naours

 

On 20 October 2024, the Underground City of Naours and the Vignacourt 14-18 Interpretation Centre are giving a presentation at the Centre on the amazing graffiti at Naours and the surprising discovery of 4,000 photographic plates at Vignacourt in 2011, evidence of the presence of Australian soldiers in both villages located behind the lines.

 

Located north of Amiens, the villages of Naours and Vignacourt were a safe distance from the front line during the war. Today, the sites offer a unique perspective on the history of Allied soldiers who spent some of their free time in these bucolic Picardy villages.

The Underground City of Naours is recognised as one of the most distinctive and complete underground refuges to visit in northern France, and contains the greatest concentration of First World War graffiti discovered to date. The Silent Soldiers of Naours interpretive centre brings to life the stories of the men who left inscriptions on the gallery walls and invites visitors to discover the activities of soldiers on leave while behind the lines, revealing a less bloody and little-known facet of the war.

Vignacourt was an important Allied base close to the front line and popular village for Allied soldiers during the First World War. It was in this village that Louis and Antoinette Thuillier, a farming couple with a passion for photography, took photos of many soldiers and itinerant civilians. The Vignacourt 14-18 Interpretation Centre tells the story of these 4,000 photographic plates, which disappeared for almost a century before reappearing in the 21st century, revealing the faces of many soldiers.

 

During the presentation, the audience will learn how the identities and stories of many soldiers who inscribed their names on the gallery walls or who had their photo taken in the Thuillier farmhouse have been uncovered.

The presentation will be given in French on 20 October 2024 from 3:00pm. Admission is free but bookings are required.


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