ANZAC LANDMARK RESTORATION

A Naked Army mandate is to establish and to support / sponsor philanthropic projects such as Royal Victorian Regiment’s (5/6RVR) help in restoration of Australian Imperial Force landmarks at Salisbury Plain in the UK, and the unit’s attendance at the Fovant Badge Society’s Drumhead Service, an annual event organized by the Society.

Thousands of men from all parts of the Commonwealth lived for a while in the Fovant / Salisbury Plains area, passed on to the Western Front and returned from it. Many never returned but gave their lives on the battlefields in France. In remembrance of their colleagues, many of the regiments carved into the hillside replicas of their cap badges.

Many of these no longer survive, but by the end of WW1 there were some twenty discernible badges. The Fovant Badges are unique in their detail and pose difficult restoration problems relating to the slope of the hill, the complexity of design, and their sizes.

These vary; the Australian Badge, the largest, measures over 50m x 30m, which is just under half the area of a football field. In previous years 5/6 RVR have contributed significantly to the restoration of this ANZAC icon.

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