On 1 November, Minister-president Geert Bourgeois granted 200,000€ to the Australian War Memorial Museum for the construction of the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden in the Australian capital Canberra. The official opening of this memorial garden is planned in April 2017.
The Flanders Fields Memorial Garden in Canberra will be the second memorial garden after the inauguration of the London garden in 2014. The gardens are landscaped with soil from the battlefields of Flanders Fields. It is a place to honour and commemorate the fallen soldiers and at the same time a place of hope, peace and reconciliation.
More than 400,000 Australians – on a population of 6 million - fought in the First World War. 60,000 lost their life. Every year on April 25th, ANZAC Day, Australia commemorates them. Also in Flanders there are annual memorial moments on this day. Which has made the ties between Australia and Flanders stronger over recent years.
The commemoration of the First World War, during the period 2014-2018, is of great importance to the Government of Flanders. These memorial gardens will keep international attention for Flanders Fields as a peace destination alive, even after 2018.
The Austalian War Memorial Museum
