Giant 150ft chalk map of Australia cut into a Wiltshire hillside by homesick WWI soldiers is painstakingly restored
- Incredible badge was done by homesick soldiers from Australian Imperial Force
- Over the years the 150ft wide map became overgrown and was disappearing
- 100 years later, it has been restored to its former glory by a team of volunteers
A 1917 chalk map of Australia carved into a Wiltshire hillside has been painstakingly restored in time for the centenary commemorations of the end of World War One.
The vast badge was created by homesick soldiers from the Australian Imperial Force who were preparing to fight - many of whom never made it back home.
Over the years the 150ft (46m) wide map became overgrown and was disappearing.
Now, nearly 100 years after it was made, the badge has been restored to its former glory by a team of volunteers who spent the summer re-digging trenches using 40 tonnes of chalk.
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A 1917 chalk map of Australia carved into a Wiltshire hillside has been painstakingly restored in time for the centenary commemorations of the end of World War One
The Australian soldiers were stationed near Hurdcott Camp which was one of three large camps between the villages of Compton Chamberlayne and Sutton Mandeville.
Australian battalions had been at Hurdcott Camp since 1916 but it was not until 1917 that it was officially taken over by the Australian Imperial Forces.
'In early 1917, soldiers (following the example of other chalk carvings at nearby Fovant and Sutton Mandeville) dug out an outline of Australia', according to the The Map of Australia trust website.
The lettering is 18ft (5m) tall and is believed to have taken 17 weeks to complete when it was first created.
The restoration started on 24 June this summer.
'The Map of Australia was completed on 3rd October 2018 and is now back on the hillside in time for Armistice Day', the trust website reads.
References in diaries and letters at the time suggest that creating the badge was more punishment than pleasure.
However, trustees of the chalk badge say that 'once created, it was often looked at longingly by men, perhaps when thinking of home.'
The vast badge was created by homesick soldiers from the Australian Imperial Force who were preparing to fight - many of whom never made it back home
Nearly 100 years after it was made, the badge has been restored to its former glory by a team of volunteers who spent the summer re-digging trenches using 40 tonnes of chalk
In early 1917, soldiers (following the example of other chalk carvings at nearby Fovant and Sutton Mandeville) dug out an outline of Australia
'I thought it was an absolute tragedy that it was fading from view,' Helen Roberts, a fire control officer who recruited a band of volunteers to carry out the restoration told The Times.
'We were blessed with a fantastic summer and only had to cancel on one day because of the weather, and that was because it was too hot.
'We never would have completed it in time for the Armistice if it hadn't been so sunny', she said.
In 1918 an Australian soldier named Thomas James Quinn wrote to his family; 'I am enclosing a map of Australia on the hill here at Hurdcott.
'It is done with white chalk stone and is longingly watched by the troops camped here', he wrote.
The lettering is 18ft (5m) tall and is believed to have taken 17 weeks to complete when it was first created. The restoration started on 24 June this summer
References in diaries and letters at the time suggest that creating the badge was more punishment than pleasure. The restoration (pictured) finished on 3rd October
The restoration started in June. Australian battalions had been at Hurdcott Camp since 1916 but it was not until 1917 that it was officially taken over by the Australian Imperial Forces
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