Further Investigation Of Uncomfirmed War Graves

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Media Mail List
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The Hon. Bruce Billson, MP
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

Further Investigation Of Uncomfirmed War Graves Site In France

International experts in battlefield archaeology have been approached by the Australian Army to conduct a non-invasive survey of a site near Fromelles village in northern France, to confirm if the remains of First World War diggers are still buried there.

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Bruce Billson said today the Army was negotiating with the eminent archaeologist Dr Tony Pollard of the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at the University of Glasgow to carry out the survey of the site known as Pheasant Wood.

Mr Billson said given the sensitivity surrounding former battle site searches and approvals required to carry out further investigations on private land, the Australian Government was working closely with French authorities and in collaboration with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

“The Australian Government takes its responsibility very seriously for the care, proper interment and commemoration of Australian service personnel who lost their lives overseas. It should be noted that soldiers from other nations were also involved in ferocious battles in the Fromelles area and also suffered heavy losses,” he saiῤ.

“Army has asked Dr Pollard’s team to carry out a non-invasive investigation of the site at Pheasant Wood, possibly using ground-penetrating radar, to determine whether there was a mass grave at the site and the likelihood that remains are still there.”

The approach to the international experts followed claims raised by the Melbourne-based Friends of the Fifteenth Brigade that over 160 Australians, killed in the 1916 Battle of Fromelles and whose remains were nor recovered after the War, could still be buried there.

“While the Government appreciates the work and interest of such groups, unauthorised digs and physical searches are both reckless and counter-productive. The investigation of possible war graves and dealing with the remains of Australian war dead is a sensitive matter, and should be handled on an official basis,” Mr Billson said.

An expert panel was convened by the Australian Government to investigate the claims relating to the Pheasant Wood site. This included interviews with members of the Friends of the Fifteenth Brigade.

“The panel’s exhaustive research and deliberations found the evidence at hand supported the conclusion that Australian dead from the battle were buried at the Pheasant Wood site, however, there were dissenting views on whether or not those soldiers were subsequently re-buried in other war cemeteries.

“Records about the extensive program of post-war recovery and re-interment of remains are patchy – not least of all because many records kept in London were destroyed by German bombing during the blitz. As a result, the expert panel recommended this further investigation be carried out on-site.”

Mr Billson said he had written to the British Parliament’s All Party War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group, to inform it of this next step, while the Chief of Army would be writing to the British Army and French authorities to formalise the investigation.

“The important thing is that we are engaging respected academics to carry out a professional, sensitive, non-invasive survey. It would be inappropriate for anyone, no matter how well-intentioned, to excavate land in France without the benefit of this next step and proper authorisation from all authorities,” Mr Billson said.

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