The Australian Memorial Park overlooks what was once the battlefield. In the park stands the bronze 'Bullecourt Digger'. The commemorative plaque reads: "Sacred to the memory of the 10,000 members of the Australian Imperial Force who were killed or wounded in the two battles of Bullecourt, April-May 1917, and to the Australian dead and their comrades-in-arms who lie here forever in the soil of France. 'Lest we Forget'."

Bullecourt, a village in northern France, was one of several villages to be heavily fortified and incorporated into the defences of the Hindenburg Line in 1917. There were two major battles at Bullecourt in April and May 1917 in which some 10,000 members of the AIF were killed or wounded.

In March 1917, the German army had withdrawn to the Hindenburg Line in order to shorten their front and thus make their positions easier to defend. An offensive was launched around Arras on 11 April 1917 by the 4th Australian and 62nd British Divisions. The attack was hastily planned and mounted and resulted in disaster. Nevertheless, the infantry managed to break into the German defences but the Australians were eventually hemmed in and forced to retreat. The two brigades of the 4th Division that carried out the attack, the 4th and 12th, suffered over 3,300 casualties. 1,170 Australians were taken prisoner, the largest number captured in a single engagement during the war.

As part of the British Army's Arras offensive, a renewed attempt was made to secure the village of Bullecourt with the Australian 2nd Division (5th and 6th Brigades) and the British 62nd Division attacking on 3 May 1917. The Australians penetrated the German line but met determined opposition which frustrated the envelopment plan. Drawing more and more forces in, renewed efforts on 7 May succeeded in linking British and Australian forces, but inspired a series of ferocious and costly German counter-attacks over the next week and a half. Following the repulse of the counter-attack of 15 May, the Germans withdrew from the remnants of the village. Although the locality was of little or no strategic importance, the actions were nevertheless extremely costly: AIF casualties totalled 7,482 from three Australian Divisions.

The Bullecourt Memorial Park was inaugurated on Anzac Day in 1992. The 'Bullecourt Digger', designed and sculpted in Melbourne by Peter Corlett, was unveiled during Anzac Day ceremonies in 1993.

Bullecourt, France.

From Paris take the A1 then Exit 14 to Bapaume. Bullecourt can be reached from Bapaume through Ecoust St Mien on the D956.