French await last-minute Aussie arrivals for Anzac Day

The Australian War Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France. Photo / Wikimedia Commons image by Aspdin

VILLERS-BRETONNEUX - The green and gold bunting is hanging in the streets and the Australian flags are flying, but the French town which commemorates Anzac Day is missing its usual hoards of Aussie tourists.

For the past two years, Villers-Bretonneux, which lies in the heart of the Somme valley, has attracted up to 5000 Australians to its Anzac Day dawn service commemorating the 46,000 diggers who lost their lives on the Western Front in World War I.

But, this year, locals fear the Icelandic volcano which caused havoc for air travel across Europe last week might put a dent in the number of Australians travelling to the town, affectionately known as VB, for Anzac Day.

Villers-Bretonneux is usually packed with Australians in the days leading up to the dawn service. But yesterday afternoon the pub in the main square, Le Forum, was struggling for business and there was only a handful of Aussie tourists wandering VB's streets.

Lorraine El Yabouri from VB's Franco-Australian Museum said visitor numbers dropped dramatically last week before picking up yesterday.

"We usually average 100 people a week for the two weeks before Anzac Day," she told AAP.

"It started off OK but Thursday last week the numbers went down and it's been like that until today, when we had 130 people through - that's up from 85 on the same day last year.

"So, that makes us optimistic about Sunday because we were a bit worried."

Organisers of the dawn service remain hopeful that at least 3000 people will turn up at the Australian National Memorial on the outskirts of Villers-Bretonneux tomorrow.

Tourism officials report that while bookings at hotels and B&Bs in the area dipped as a result of the volcano travel chaos, 80 per cent of all rooms are now occupied.

Organiser of the dawn service General Paul Stephens says that while some Australians would have had to cancel their travel plans, thousands of others were expected to descend on the town today ahead of tomorrow's service.

"Among the 3000 that turned up last year, only 700 came directly from Australia," Gen Stephens, whose arrival in France was delayed by a week due to the volcanic ash, told AAP.

"So two-thirds don't come from Australia. They're still Australians but they come from Britain or elsewhere in France or Europe because they are working there or on holiday.

"I think we'll be OK. The long-term prognosis for the dawn service here is positive. Everyone is taking a greater interest in the Western Front."

Teaching curriculum developer Yvonne Kane, from Warrnambool in Victoria, managed to defy the odds and reach VB.

She was booked to fly from Dublin to Paris and then travel north to VB.

But the volcano chaos forced her to reschedule her plans at the last minute and book new train and ferry tickets to ensure she could get to the dawn service.

A relieved Ms Kane finally arrived in VB yesterday and visited the local high school, whose students are in contact with their Australian counterparts at Warrnambool College.

"I'm feeling very emotional now I'm here because I walked into the school and there was Australian stuff everywhere," she said.

"I was very determined to get here."

- AAP