Army Cadets Feature in French Commemoration of Key WW1 Battle

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Army Cadets Feature in French Commemoration of Key WW1 Battle

Five Australian Army Cadets recently travelled to France with the Australian Defence Force Cadets Contingent at the international commemoration of the centenary of the Battle of Amiens. The Australian Army Cadets who travelled to France last month were: CUO Elijah Ingram, CUO Eliza Reynolds, CDTWO2 Thomas Moularadellis, CDTSGE Emma Suitor-Clark and CDTCPL Corben Mudjandi.

The Battle of Amiens, which commenced on 8 August 1918, is the name given to the major allied offensive in France which ultimately prompting the German High Command to seek an armistice and end the hostilities on 11 November 1918. The Battle of Amiens was a coalition effort in which troops from France, Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States all participated. The Australian Corps and its commander, General Sir John Monash, played a key role in the offensive, particularly on the first day in which the Germans were routed from their front-line positions, suffering 27,000 casualties, including 17,000 prisoners.

A major element of the 2018 commemoration, led by the UK Ministry of Defence, was a youth program to bring the centenary activities to a younger audience. To that end, the UK government invited each of the nations involved in the event, the five allied participants and Germany, to select a youth delegation of 15 students to prepare a pre-tour research project, and to join the other delegations in a battlefield tour and in contributing to the international commemoration.

Australia accepted the invitation sending a group of 15 cadets representing the three Cadet organisations. All cadets with at least two years’ experience and a current Australian passport were eligible for nomination and the call for volunteers went out from the Commander of Australian Defence Force Cadets, Rear Admiral Bruce Kafer, in April this year. HQ AAC received 35 nominations of eligible and highly suitable cadets, and the final list of participants had to be determined by the conduct of a selection panel.

After working on their research project - the production of an exhibition banner entitled “Telling our Story” - the Army cadets assembled at Sydney International Airport on Sunday morning, 5 August 2018 for their six day whirlwind trip to France and back. After the cadets’ flight touched down in Paris on Monday morning the Australians joined their international counterparts for a formal welcome and briefings before leaving the City of Light for a bus trip north to the valley of the river Somme.

The cadets stayed at Poppie’s Hotel in Albert, the town which, along with Ypres in Belgium, served as one of the main depots for the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front and through which tens of thousands of Australian soldiers marched from 1916 to 1918 on their journeys up to the front line on the Somme battlefields. Cadet Sergeant Thomas Moularadellis, from 412 ACU at Woodside, South Australia, was impressed by the massive museum at Albert, housed in tunnels dug during the war. “I felt really moved to be there”, he said. “These boys, they were here waiting to go on the time of their lives, and many didn’t return.”

The Australian Cadets spent Tuesday, the 7th August, touring sites on the Somme battlefield. The purpose of this tour was to highlight the costly mistakes made in the British offensive of 1916 and how tacticians like Sir John Monash incorporated the lessons learned in their planning for the later battles around Amiens. “The battlefields and cemeteries were so humbling,” said Cadet Sergeant Emma Suitor-Clarke, from 200 ACU in Young, New South Wales. “The vast fields of headstones showed all the lost lives. It gave me a sense of continuity with the ANZACs and made me feel humble and proud.”

On the following morning the cadets toured the battlefields around Amiens, including a visit to the recently opened Sir John Monash Centre, which accepted the Cadets’ banner as an exhibit, before moving to the Cathedral de Notre Dame d’Amiens to attend the international commemoration event. The ceremony was presided over by His Royal Highness Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. Also in attendance was the Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Honourable Darren Chester MP and Major General Gavan Reynolds, the Australian Military Advisor to NATO and the European Union, along with a contingent of flag bearers and musicians from the ADF. “When I was at the Cathedral I was amazed at the size of it; I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Cadet Corporal Corben Mudjandi, from 72 ACU in Arnhem Land. “I was very privileged that I got to participate in that ceremony.”

On their last day in France the cadets travelled to Compiegne to inspect memorials including the railway carriage in which the representatives of the Allied and German armies signed the armistice on 11 November 1918. After hasty farewells from their new friends the cadets boarded their bus for the trip to Paris and took off for home late that night, arriving in Sydney, exhausted but gratified, early on the morning of Saturday 11 August.

All of the cadets agreed that the tour presented them with an extraordinary and unforgettable opportunity to gain a unique insight into the heroism and sacrifice not only of the young Australians who served on the Western Front in World War I, but those of the soldiers of our allies and opponents as well. “It was one of the best things I’ve ever been on,” enthused Sergeant Moularadellis.

The achievements of the Australian Army Cadets and their Navy and Airforce comrades were recognized in a congratulatory message from RADM Kafer, which underlined the success of the whole event.

There are around 16,000 Army Cadets ranging in age from 13-18 years in over 260 units throughout Australia. The AAC is Army’s own youth development program which through shared values of Courage, Initiative, Respect and Teamwork endeavours to develop young people while fostering an ongoing interest in the Australian Army.

Produced by AAC Public Affairs Team