Fromelles 2008-2010
July 19-20 , 1916 marked the day the AIF experienced the reality of war on the Western Front during the Great War for the first time. In a tiny village in the northern France, Australian and British troops took part in a frontal attack on the German Army that created a story that was unresolved until 2008, 92 years after the actual failed attack. These two days in 1916 were little known after the war despite the casualties inflicted on the Australian forces being the worst of any single military campaign in the history of the AIF. Many men were never found though it was a commonly held belief by locals in the village and amongst a number of historians, that a large pit of 250 soldiers lay close to the Pheasant Wood.
In 2008 after a years of speculation and investigations, the 250 men's remains were finally located in the mud of Fromelles. For the following two years every soldiers' remains and pieces of physical evidence were removed from their original burial place. With meticulous attention to detail, the identification and plans for proper reburials, were initiated. The construction of the new Pheasant Wood cemetery and 249 reburials were undertaken over January in 2010 with the Australian Federation Guard present for all reinterments. For the initial group of soldiers positively identified, new headstones with their identities were placed at each individual grave. One unknown soldier, the 250th, was buried on July 19, 2010 in the presence of Prince Charles and other officials. Australian relatives of the Fromelles boys were also in attendance. In the lead up to July 19-20, I will be posting a number of blogs related to the involvement of Connecting Spirits over the years in this extraordinary story.
December 2008 : the Fromelles burial pit prior to excavation. The 2008 Connecting Spirits group were privileged to visit this poignant location.
Local media coverage of the Fromelles story.
January 2010 : the Fromelles reinterments take place.
