The Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux

By Michael Barker

When Lutyens’s great memorial was inaugurated in 1938, the country road which skirted very close to its entrance pavilions was rarely used. In recent times, traffic has increased enormously, but its speed and blind bends made arriving and parking at the memorial extremely hazardous. Consequently, the local highway authority has  diverted the road to the West. This scheme, completed in November 2013, makes public access much safer. Furthermore, having obtained consents from adjoining landowners and tenants, the excellent additional project to create a new, discreet and sensitively landscaped car park for the memorial will proceed in due course. Although the timetable for this has not yet been established, it is confidently expected to be completed by Anzac Day – 25 April, 2014.