(WW1) Bodies found at Fromelles

[Ruskie]

Thought this may interest some of you:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/28/2257679.htm

(Apologies if it has already been posted)

[liverpool annie]

I hadn't seen todays news .... but I am so glad !! how wonderful Ruskie !

They thought the weather might stop them .... but after all these years these soldiers were ready to be found !! they didn't think there was any British there ... probably all Australian !

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,306763.0.html

Annie 

[Ruskie]

I thought you might like this Annie - sorry, I didn't see your post yesterday.

It IS very exciting! It'll be interesting to watch the story unfold. Do you think they will attempt to ID all the bodies, or just make a guesstimate of numbers and nationality? I imagine there will be some kind of memorial erected on the spot. Will the soldier's remains be re-buried? I suppose some soldiers names may already be known. Do you think DNA will be used to ID any remains?
It says in the other article that they cannot remove remains (why?) - how will they estimate numbers otherwise? Is it all remains or just Australian ones they can't remove? Will they estimate numbers by looking at those not accounted for rather than by digging them all up? If so, then surely they'd know if there were Brits buried there too?

I'll be very interested to hear what Michel has to say about what he saw.

[liverpool annie]

He said he talked to somebody from Glasgow University ! ... he was wanting to go every day !! 

They say they are going to do DNA ... but I imagine that would take forever and what if theres no family etc etc ?!!

Just seen this older post on the Forum !

Just a short announcement to let everyone know that a web page (very simple and basic) has been set up in an effort to locate current living descendants of the missing Australian soldiers most probably buried at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles.

As most of us are aware, an archeological dig is planned for the site within the next month or two and the results hope to uncover the remains of some of these men. Although it is still unclear what steps will be taken if/when the remains are located, the indication is that, where possible, every attempt will be made to identify each individual.

With the recent success in Belgium of identifying Great War remains, this website aims to locate as many descendants as possible with a view to presenting the results to the Australian Army History Unit for future reference should further research be considered in this case.

You'll currently find the website at: http://users5.nofeehost.com/fromelles/ but depending on the interest it might find a more permanent home sometime in the future.

If you think you might be able to assist, we'd love to hear from you.

[Ruskie]

Ahh, bless him  .

The register of descendants is a very good idea. And yes, they have listed the soldier's names. 

Their new home is: http://www.fromelles.net/

[liverpool annie]

What's fascinating to me  Ruskie ...... is that these particluar men in the mass graves they are checking ........ died behind enemy lines and were buried by the Germans !

http://www.rootschat.com/links/03i7/

http://www.defence.gov.au/fromelles/images/gallery/20080527/index.htm

http://www.rootschat.com/links/03i8/ 

I noticed they have some British names on the list now ...... I can't believe they found them so quick ! .... but they've been using special equipment for months ... so they knew exactly where to dig !!....... amazing isn't it ?!!

[liverpool annie]

The one time I didn't use the RootsChat shrink links Trystan .... and you caught me !! 

I was just starting to do them too !! ....  I was working on the defence one in the middle ... it keeps changing too .... I can't get it to stay stable - I think it's just timing out !! 

[Ruskie]

Yes, Annie, but those lads listed as from England would have previously been immigrants to Australia I suspect? I wonder if there is a list in the UK of the Brits who perished? You would think so wouldn't you?

I think that list of names may be an official list of known fatalities held by the authorities since WW1. I suppose they will look for living rellies, see what DNA they can find from the remains and try to match 'em up.

Will have a look at the other links you posted.

Iimagine with something like this, that there will be more discoveries daily  . I think they are finding other items as well now. I will watch the news on TV tonight and let you know the latest.

Seems as though this dig has been someone's obsession for a while now  .

[Ruskie]

Nothing much new about this story on the news tonight. However they did say that no tags had been found yet.
This looks like quite a good update:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=570400&_cobr=optus