Warbird Information Exchange

Work to begin on exhuming WWI diggers
Belinda Tasker
May 3, 2009 - 9:04AM

A massive operation is about to begin in France to recover and rebury the remains of 400 Australian and British World War I soldiers found in an unmarked mass grave.

The soldiers' remains were unearthed in May 2008 after a painstaking search for their mystery burial site on the edge of the rural town of Fromelles, west of Lille in the country's north.

They were buried by German troops after the notorious Battle of Fromelles on July 19, 1916, when 5,533 diggers were killed, wounded or reported missing - the heaviest casualty rate in Australian military history.

A team of 30 archaeologists plus other scientific experts on Tuesday will begin the delicate process of exhuming the remains so they can be reinterred in individual graves at a new Commonwealth War Graves military cemetery at Fromelles early next year.

The massive task of recovering the remains and any artefacts lying with them in a series of eight pits next to Pheasant Wood, on Fromelle's outskirts, is expected to run until late September.

A mini "village" of about 30 white portacabins has been set up in a field next to the site, which is surrounded by a high-security fence, so scientists can examine the remains using a digital X-ray machine.

DNA specialists will also be hired in coming weeks to carry out an initial round of tests to determine if any viable genetic material can be extracted from the remains to help identify the soldiers.

However, the Australian and British governments will wait for the results before deciding on whether to test all the remains.

The Australian army and historians have compiled a list of 191 names of diggers they believe lie at Fromelles.

Relatives of 93 of those named have come forward offering to provide DNA samples to cross-check with any genetic material extracted from the remains.

The Australian Army's project manager for the Fromelles excavation, Lieutenant Colonel James Brownlie, described the impending dig as "fairly momentous".

"I guess it's still a long way from any identification of those soldiers and any finalities for the families," he told AAP.

"But at least it's that initial step towards getting to that final stage."

While the Australians suffered horrific losses during the Battle of Fromelles, there were also 1,547 British casualties, including 519 killed.

Britain's Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans Kevin Jones said he hoped some soldiers would be identified.

"Trying to get the names and identities on the gravestones is something that I think is very worthwhile," he told AAP.

"We have to see whether it's do-able in terms of DNA and that's why myself and my Australian counterpart (Veterans' Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon) have agreed to this first step.

"I think, then, I would certainly like to see if we can identify individuals. I think it would be very good and fitting for those individuals."

The mass grave was only found in 2008 because of years of research by Melbourne schoolteacher and amateur historian Lambis Englezos.

Reburial project in crisis
Paola Totaro
July 6, 2009

THE ambitious project to exhume, identify and rebury 400 Australian and British World War I soldiers found in a mass grave in a French battlefield is in crisis after a Defence Department decision to use a cut-price contractor.

Heavy rain and poor planning for drainage and toxic groundwater dispersal have derailed the dig, silting soldiers' remains and graves and potentially lifting artefacts out of their resting place at Fromelles, the site of one of the war's fiercest battles.

An emergency meeting was held on site last week in an attempt to salvage the archaeological project — including the pledge to DNA-test the bodies to identify them.

Pressed for time and money, archaeologists have jettisoned the hand-sieving of soil from the graves for artefacts and personal effects — concentrating only on the bodies' immediate surrounds.

This is unprecedented on an archaeological site, and is particularly significant at Fromelles, where the first Australian military badges were found in heavy clay through this painstaking process. The handwork had also turned up items such as cigarette holders and tobacco tools before the search was scaled back.

The Commonwealth's own Fromelles website, updated last Tuesday, reveals that just two dozen bodies have been retrieved in more than two months. Work was to end in September, with the official reburial planned for next year in a Commonwealth military ceremony.

But behind the scenes, questions are being asked about the British and Australian defence departments' decision to award the tender to the lowest bidder — a team unfamiliar with the site but which guaranteed to complete the job on schedule for half the price of the two rival bidders.

The Age has learnt that the losing tenders by Birmingham University and Glasgow University teams — the latter undertook the initial site survey in 2007 and the limited exploratory excavation last year — both estimated the cost to be more than £2.4 million ($A4.9 million). This did not include DNA testing.

The winning team, known as Oxford Archaeology — not affiliated with the famous university — won the bid by promising to complete the five-month project for about £1 million less. Its £1.4 million bid did not allow for drainage in heavy clay at what is a difficult site. Rising costs and delays have now also forced the recruitment of more freelance excavators regardless of their experience.

A spokesman for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in London, Peter Francis, said a body count would not be issued, and he insisted the works were on schedule and he had total faith in Oxford Archaeology.

But The Age has collected a dossier of information that indicates the dig has been hindered by poor drainage and weather protection, with water jeopardising remains and artefacts. It is believed only about 23 bodies have been tested and that only a fifth of them have provided viable DNA samples. Meanwhile, there is growing debate in Defence circles on whether the cost is prohibitive.

Last week, The Age was invited to visit the site as an "exclusive" project to document the retrieval of a body and its passage from the mass grave through to the mortuary and the anthropological and DNA processes. But the invitation was withdrawn without explanation within 24 hours.

An open day was held for the media on site when Oxford Archaeology began work in May. At that time there was no power, sinks were not connected to water, mortuary equipment had not been installed and the artefacts offered for filming were believed to have come from a local museum as the graves had not yet been opened.

Mr Francis said "both governments know there is a huge amount of interest and a joint announcement will be made towards the anniversary of the battle on the 19th of July, 1916".

Digger project on track: Combet
Paola Totaro and Mark Davis
July 7, 2009

THE Federal Government has disputed reports that the project to recover the remains of Australian and British soldiers from the World War I battlefield at Fromelles is in crisis.

In a carefully worded statement, Minister for Defence Personnel Greg Combet and Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said the excavation was being conducted in a professional and sensitive manner, with respect for the soldiers buried at the Pheasant Wood site in France.

The ministers said a report in the The Age yesterday that the project had been derailed by heavy rain and the company carrying it out, Oxford Archaeology, had no contingency plan for drainage or the dispersal of toxic groundwater was wrong.

But the statement appeared to concede the project to retrieve 400 diggers from a field in the Somme had been downgraded from an archaeological dig to a "recovery" exercise.

The ministers also rejected reports that only two dozen of the estimated 400 bodies had been retrieved in more than two months of work; that it might not be possible to conduct DNA testing of the remains; and searches for such artefacts as military badges had been halted.

The project is being conducted for the Australian and British governments and aims to exhume the remains of fallen soldiers, identify them and rebury them at a new military cemetery in Fromelles.

Mr Combet said Oxford Archaeology was one of the largest heritage practices in Europe and had up to 30 specialists on site at all times.

"A minor delay with the project was caused by very heavy rain in late May this year," Mr Combet said. "However, the project remains on … schedule."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he had been advised all necessary precautions were being taken to ensure fallen Australian soldiers at Fromelles were being treated with respect.