OUR grief is rendered more acute for the people of France this week because of an unhappy coincidence of history. In many parts of that great European nation, upon which a pall of sadness has descended after the events in Nice, the name Australia is honoured, even revered because of events 100 years ago this week. 
Australians who this week visit towns around the Somme will understand well how appreciative the locals are of our nation's sacrifices.
Many countries remote from the fighting today struggle to comprehend why their sons and daughters were involved in WWI, but for the French the threat was immediate, and the consequences of a successful German invasion, culture-ending. If the ANZAC legend was born at Gallipoli in WWI, then it certainly came to European prominence in the Somme campaign.
The threat posed then still resonates this week when French motto of "libertÃ©, Ã©galitÃ©, fraternitÃ©" is again challenged by foreign and domestic forces seeking to destroy this way of life.
Today our thoughts are with the people of France, but 100 years ago Australian lives were on the line in the thousands.
The Somme campaign, which changed the course of WWI, began on   July 1, 1916, but this week marks the beginning of the most devastating period of the campaign for Australian troops.
On Tuesday, the nation remembers the Battle of Fromelles, which took place on   July 19 and 20.
It was a calamitous attack which stands as the most deadly 24 hours in Australian fighting history.
Next Saturday, the beginning of the two-week Battle of Pozieres Ridge is also remembered. By the end of the Somme campaign in   November just over one million soldiers had been killed or injured - 23,000 of them Australians.
Numerically Australia's involvement was small, but ask those who live in the towns affected today and they will tell you numbers don't matter. The Diggers' distance from home, the fact they volunteered to die in the defence of France and the character and fighting spirit of the ordinary Aussies left a heroic legacy.
Australians left their mark in so many pockets of France. West of Villers-Bretonneux is the Adelaide Cemetery where many of the fallen from that 1918 battle lie, and in every classroom of the Victoria School in the same town children look up and read the words: "Do not forget Australia".
We also grieve for our current brothers-in-arms, but enemies in WWI, the Turks. Although on opposing sides when the ANZAC legend was born in Gallipoli, we stand with them at this time of political upheaval.
Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by The Editor, Andrew Holman, 31 Waymouth St, Adelaide, 5000