The joint announcement by the Australian and British governments that the remains of the soldiers buried at Pheasant Wood Fromelles by the German Army after the 19 July 1916 Battle of Fromelles will undergo DNA analysis, has increased the chances that some of these men will regain their identity after being ‘lost’ for 93 years.
Photo: Examination of artefacts uncovered at Pheasant Wood
[Oxford Archaeology. CWGC]
The news on the DNA testing is being reported around the world. A list of media reports for 10 August was posted at RECENT NEWS Item: DNA Go Ahead. Click here. Further media reports can be seen at:
BBC News: DNA work begins at WW1 mass grave. Click here.
CNN: DNA tests to identify WW1 bodies. Click here.
Sunday Mail UK: A handmade leather heart, a gold cross and a train ticket: The poignant keepsakes found at mass World War 1 graves in France. Click here.
Southern Daily Echo: DNA tests on county’s war dead. Click here.
AFP: DNA tests to identify British, Aussie WW1 troops. Click here.
Northampton Chronicle: DNA may unearth the mystery of war dead. Click here.
WalesOnline: Family hope to bury soldier 93 years after he died. Click here.
The Huddersfield Daily Examiner: Huddersfield ancestors sought for clues to WW1 victims life. Click here.
The important role that DNA analysis and family trees can play in the identification process and an explanation of DNA testing can be seen in RECENT NEWS item: DNA and Family Trees.
The use of DNA analysis is not the only tool being used by Oxford Archaeology to help return the identity of the fallen soldiers. Forensic archaeologists will use artefacts uncovered from the mass graves along with physical aspects of the men to help in the identification process.
One of the Australian soldiers exhumed could be identified as Australia’s youngest soldier to have been killed in action. John Gordon, who at the age of 15 years, 10 months and one day enlisted in the AIF with his parents consent using his deceased brother’s name, James. The extract below from Private James Gordon’s Service Record held at the National Archives of Australia shows the letter of consent written by his father and also signed by his mother. Little did they know that less than 12 months after enlisting their son would be listed as missing in action.
Private James Gordon was later confirmed as killed in action on 19 July 1916 when his identification discs were returned by the German Army.
To read more about how forensic archaeologists will try to identify John Gordon see The Melbourne Age article Has Fromelles yielded youngest digger? By clicking here.
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TheFamilies and Friends of the First AIFapplauds the joint Australian–UK decision, announced by The Hon Greg Combet AM MP and the Hon Kevan Jones MP, to conduct a full DNA testing program on the remains of Australian and British soldiers found in mass graves at Pheasant Wood (Fromelles), and for their continuing commitment to identify as many of the fallen as is possible. We also thank the Australian, UK and French governments for affording dignified individual reburials for these soldiers, buried by German soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles on 19/20 July 1916, in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery presently under construction at Fromelles.