The Australian Memorial Park is situated around the remains of fortifications on part of the old German line captured by the 14th Australian Brigade and held overnight on 19-20 July 1916.

The central feature of the memorial park is the sculpture ‘Cobbers’, a soldier carrying a wounded man.

Nearby is the VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial.

The Park is situated on the German front line position where the Australian 5th Division, along with the 61st British (South Midland) Division, attacked on July the 19th, 1916. The intention was to make a feint here to prevent the Germans from bringing reinforcements to the Somme. The Australian attack here was their first serious battle in France, and the only one in which they achieved no success. In 27 hours of incessant fighting the 5th Division, with a loss of 5,533 men killed, wounded or captured, a quarter of its strength, were driven back to their own start line, the worst day in Australian military history.

The ‘Cobbers’ sculpture is modelled on Sergeant Simon Fraser of 57th Battalion, a 40 year old Victorian farmer turned soldier who rescued many men from the battlefield. He is carrying a man of 60th Battalion. Later, Fraser, as a Lieutenant with the 58th Battalion, was Mentioned in Dispatches before being killed at Bullecourt on 12 May 1917. He is commemorated on the wall of the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

Sculptured by Peter Corlett of Melbourne.

Fromelles, France.

The memorial is located about 3km to the north-east of Fromelles itself, and can be reached by following the D22 from the village. It is located on the right-hand side of the road as you travel north, and is a fairly small area set in a cornfield.