2016 20c Coin 'Anzac to Afghanistan' - FROMELLES

2016 20c Coin 'Anzac to Afghanistan' - FROMELLES

It is regarded as one of the most devastating 24 hours in Australian history. Several weeks after arriving in France, from Gallipoli via Egypt, in 1916, the Australians fought at Fromelles where they received a brutal introduction to the Western Front. They suffered more than 5500 casualties in less than 24 hours. One thousand eight hundred men were killed. It was the beginning of a long and costly campaign.

Two weeks after the Battle of the Somme began, the Australian 5th Division was tasked with making a diversion in the north to prevent German troops from moving south to the Somme. On July 19, 1916, the inexperienced 5th Division assaulted the German trenches near Fromelles where they suffered heavily from German machine guns as they attempted to cross No Man's Land. The 15th Brigade, assaulting the position known as the Sugar Loaf, was virtually annihilated. The 8th and 14th Brigades broke into the German trenches but were ejected the following morning amid further losses.