Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée de la Bataille de Fromelles came into being in 1990, when the Association for Remembrance of the Battle of Fromelles established a first association museum at the city hall of Aubers. The museum housed a collection of objects and documents related to the battle, marking the beginning of the preservation of this historical memory. Research by Australian and French historians led to a major search campaign in 2009, sponsored by the British and Australian governments. The excavations, carried out near the Bois des Faisans in Fromelles, were intended to exhume the bodies of 250 Australian and British soldiers buried in mass graves after the Battle of 1916. DNA samples were taken to identify the remains, marking an unprecedented scientific and memorial stage.

In 2010, a new cemetery was built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to house these soldiers in individual graves, a first in 50 years. This project inspired the Community of Weppes to launch the creation of a dedicated museum, supported financially by the Australian government, the Hauts-de-France Region, the Ministry of Defence, DRAC, and other partners. The museum, designed by architect David Serero, was inaugurated on 18 June 2014. It now incorporates the initial collections as well as the individual stories of the soldiers buried at the Pheasant Wood Cemetery, offering both a historical and a humane approach to the battle.

In 2023, the museum obtained the name Musée de France, recognizing its heritage and memorial importance. Its architecture, evoking the German blockhouses typical of the Weppes landscape, reinforces the link between the building and the history it tells. The museum now serves as a place of recollection and education, preserving the memory of the soldiers who fell in this unknown but notable battle of the First World War.

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