The Fovant Badges are a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill, Fovant Down, near Fovant, in southwest Wiltshire.
The two you see are the '6th City of London Regiment' and the 'Australian and Commonwealth Military Forces' badges.
They were initially created by soldiers garrisoned nearby, and waiting to go to France, during the First World War; the first in 1916.
The 'Australian and Commonwealth' badge was cut in the down by the Australian men there at the time.
After WW1 and the closure of the camps, many of the badges and insignia carved on the hillside were neglected and faded back to grass. This was not the case with the Australian badge.
From about 1919 the Australians provided financial support to local people for the upkeep of their badges. This tradition survives today and The Fovant Badges Society receives a grant from the Australian Department of Veteran Affairs for the upkeep of this magnificent memorial to the troops of Australia that rushed to Britain’s assistance in WW1.
Eight of the original twenty remain, and are scheduled ancient monuments and recognised by the Imperial War Museum as war memorials.
