8458B/2/77: The 51st Battalion Memorial Cross erected on the battlefield of Villers-Bretonneux in 1918

Summary

The inscription reads: R.I.P. to the memory of officers. N.C.O.'s & Men of the 51st Battn A.I.F. who fell in the counter attack on Villers Brettonnaux (sic) 24/25/4/18.The cross had been erected on the battlefield by Sergeant Joe Tunnecliffe of Yanchep. Shells were roaring overhead as a memorial service was conducted by the chaplain of the 13th Brigade Padre Donald Blackwood. The cross was returned by the memorial authorities to Australia after World War One and was handed over to the 51st Militia Battalion at Ryde New South Wales. Because the 51st Battalion was largely a West Australian Unit, The State Executive of the RSL sought a transfer of the cross to St George`s Cathedral in Perth. In 1949, the parishioners at Ryde voted against a transfer. In 1956, by mutual agreement between the parishioners of the church and the 51st Battalion AIF Association, the cross was transferred to St George`s Cathedral in Perth. (Information from http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww1/display/60963-51st-battalion-memorial-cross). The cross was flown to Villers-Bretonneux in 2008 for the commemorations and a stone replica was donated to Villers-Bretonneux by the Cathedral and put into the churchyard. The original cross is now back at St George's Cathedral, Perth.