Sir John Monash Centre

About

The Sir John Monash Centre is an interpretive centre commemorating Australian and New Zealand military engagement and honouring the men of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who served on the Western Front during the First World War. The centre, located near the village of Villers-Bretonneux (Somme) in northern France, in the Hauts-de-France region, on the hill between Villers-Bretonneux and Fouilloy, is located behind the National Australian Memorial of Villers-Bretonneux and in the military cemetery. The inauguration of the centre took place in April 2018.

History: The Australian government first proposed an Australian reception centre on the Western Front in Le Hamel in 1998, but the project was abandoned until it resurfaced eight years later. The Sir John Monash Centre was commissioned in 2006 and its design was unveiled by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on April 26, 2015, the day after the Anzac Day, following an international design competition won by Cox Architecture (en). The centre is named after General Sir John Monash, who led the Australian Corps on the Western front...