Tales of Fromelles abuses 'exaggerated'
AS the relatives of Australian casualties gather in France today for the 95th anniversary of the battle of Fromelles, a German historian has called for a re-evaluation of the common perception that the Diggers suffered a wave of atrocities at the hands of their enemies.
The Battle of Fromelles has long been seen as the darkest day in Australian military history, not just because it was the highest single day of casualties in the nation's history but also because of reports of German brutality.
Tom Weber, a historian at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said the Australian perception that the enemy had behaved badly in abusing prisoners and shooting some of the wounded was an exaggeration that might have grown up as an attempt "to make sense of the enormous sacrifices that Australia suffered".
Dr Weber said he formed his "more balanced view" of the tragedy at Fromelles while researching his book Hitler's First War, which discredits the Nazi leader's World War I record....