The monument pays tribute to the 1st Australian Division, which, during the Battle of the Somme, participated in the capture of Pozières alongside the British 48th Division (South Midland Division) in the summer of 1916. The path leading to this monument corresponds to the first trench of the German line, defended by the Gibraltar blockhouse, the foundations of which are still visible, and which was captured by the Australians on July 14, 1916.
The village of Pozières had been heavily fortified by the Germans (a double network of trenches and numerous machine-gun nests) because it was located on a ridge (elevation 160) with a 360° view that was of crucial importance (including for capturing Thiepval from behind). In six weeks, between July 14, the day of the first assault on the Gibraltar site, and September 26, the date of the capture of Mouquet Farm (by British and Canadian forces), the three Australian divisions that took part in the fighting on this ridge suffered 23,000 casualties (killed, wounded, and missing).
Pozières is a symbol for Australia (after the war, an Australian village in Queensland was named after it). Indeed, it was by storming this village that the Australian Army Corps (AIF) marked its first major engagement in the Great War.