Anger as Australia bans British families from Battle of Fromelles memorial

Relatives of British soldiers killed alongside thousands of diggers in World War I are angry they have been barred from an Australian centenary commemoration of the Battle of Fromelles.

Australia's Department of Veterans Affairs is organising the July 19 service near Lille in northern France but only Australian citizens will be allowed to attend.

British military planning has been blamed for the disastrous attack in 1916 that left 5513 inexperienced Australian soldiers dead or injured, along with around 1500 British casualties.

They advanced into a hail of machine-gun fire from entrenched German positions.

The ban on non-Australians has angered relatives of British troops who died in the battle.

Michael Bemrose, whose father Fred was killed at Fromelles, told The Times newspaper that families feel "totally insulted" by the attitude of the Australian authorities.

"Men from both countries fought together and died together but now the Australians want to airbrush the British out of the battle."

Jennifer Stephenson, from the Department of Veterans Affairs, told The Times the commemoration would focus on the Australian casualties.

"This is not to diminish the role of other nations but simply a recognition of the Australian focus of the event."