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

Published: 06:15 EST, 7 November 2018 | Updated: 06:43 EST, 7 November 2018

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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 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

WHAT WAS THE US' INVOLVEMENT DURING WORLD WAR ONE?

On April 6, 1917, the United States joined the First World War by sending troops, money and supplies overseas. It was already three years into the war that started on July 28, 1914.

The US had tried to stayed out of the conflict before that, but continued to trade with Britain. Germany damaged or sunk American trade ships going between the US and Britain, despite the fact that the US was neutral.

By February 1915, Germany declared war against all ships that came into the war zone around Britain. In March of that year a German cruiser sank a private American vessel, though the country apologised and said it was a mistake.

Things got worse in May 1915 when the British ocean liner Lusitania was torpedoed, killing 1,198 passengers of the total 1,959. Of those killed, 128 passengers were American.

The US demanded compensation and called for Germany to stop attacking passenger and merchant ships, which they agreed to until they sunk an Italian liner in November, killing 272 people, including 27 Americans.

By 1917, Germany formally resumed their unrestricted warfare on all ships within the war zone and one of their U-boats sunk an American liner. The US broke diplomatic ties with Germany hours after. The US Congress and President Woodrow Wilson had enough.

In February 1917, Congress passed a bill to prepare the American military for war and in March, Germany sunk four American merchant ships.

President Wilson called for a declaration of war against Germany to Congress on April 2, 1917, and four days later they granted his request. The first US soldiers arrived in France for training on June 26.

There were 14,000 infantry troops and the arrival of fresh troops marked a turning point in the war for the benefit of the Allies. By the summer of 1918 about a million troops had arrived in France, half of whom would go on to see the front lines of battle.

Back in the US, Americans rallied together to help the Allies win the war by gathering food supplies, munitions and money, and enlisting soldiers. At first there was some confusion and disorganisation, that included a coal shortage and cargo delays because of traffic jams in the rail yards and a lack of strong leadership.

President Wilson got hold of the situation by early 1918 and the country worked together to help win the war. The US Food Administration taught Americans to economize on food and start victory gardens in their backyards to grow food for soldiers. Patriotism and support for the war became an important part of American culture.

Though the US was only involved for 20 months, by the end of the war on November 11, 1918, a total of 116,516 American soldiers died, 53,402 of those were killed in combat. 204,002 were wounded.