The attack against German forces near the town of Fromelles in French Flanders in July cost 5533 Australian dead and wounded.

They were members of the AIF’s 5^th Division and had not been at the Western Front long before being thrown into the bloodbath as part of the Somme offensive.

Chairman of the Reserve Forces Day Council (Riverina), John Ploenges, said each annual Reserve Forces Day service during the centenary of World War I would focus on a battle whose anniversary was nearest.

He said the Battle of Fromelles was on July 19, 1916.

“It was a catastrophe,” Mr Ploenges said of Fromelles.

“It was another feint (like the Battle of Lone Pine at Gallipoli about 11 months before) to distract the enemy from the Somme, but it did not work.”

The Commandant of Kapooka, Colonel Steve Jobson CSC, will deliver the keynote address at the service, speaking about Fromelles.

“We will have a number of descendants of World War I veterans wearing medallions at the service,” Mr Ploenges said.

Mr Ploenges said it was important to recognise reserve forces because they have played a vital role in every military conflict involving Australia as far back as the Boer War.

“And when you go to the first battle involving Australian soldiers in World War I in Papua New Guinea they were basically reservists,” he said.

“But Reserve Forces Day is not just about reservists, it’s also about the support they receive from their families, employers and educational institutions.”

The service will be held at the National Servicemen’s Association and Reserve Forces Memorial in Wagga’s Victory Memorial Gardens at 11am.

The service will include prayers and wreath laying.

The Last Post will be sounded and the Ode of Remembrance will be read.

The service will be followed by a barbecue lunch at the reserves depot on Docker Street.

Mr Ploenges said current reservists were gaining greater recognition.