2016 Battle of Fromelles Limited Edition Medallion Cover

2016 Battle of Fromelles Limited Edition Medallion CoverThe battle of Fromelles is considered one of Australia's most devastating actions during World War I. Devised as a feint to keep German troops pinned in the area and away from the fighting on the Somme, further south, it was Australia's first major action fought on the Western Front.With little planning, the newly arrived Australian 5th Division and the British 61st Division were ordered to assault German positions outside Fromelles and to secure the first two lines of enemy trenches.But German troops had uninterrupted views across no-man's land and knew such an attacked was coming. Although British and Australian guns pounded the German lines for several hours before the attack began, machine guns at the feature known as the Sugar Loaf remained active, decimating the attacking waves as soon as they left their trenches.Some units managed to break into the German trenches only to be defeated by a series of determined counter-attacks during the night. In less than 24 hours, the Australians suffered some 5,533 casualties, of which 2,000 died, British casualties numbered more than 1,500.For Australian troops, Fromelles was a brutal introduction to war on the Western Front.Medallion cover features the Arrival at the Western Front $1 stamp and is postmarked First Day of Issue – Centenary of WWI 1916, 12th April 2016 Frenchs Forest NSW 2086.Limited to a tiny mintage of just 2,000 coversDenomination :               MedallionQuality :                         Antique CopperMetal :                           BrassWeight :                         52.00 gmsDiameter :                      60.00 mmMintage :                        2,000Certificate of Authenticity : Australia Post Seal of AuthenticityAdvertising Date :            12th April 2016Release Date :                 12th April 2016