Corporal Fred Livingston and Private James Gordon were members of the 29th Battalion when they were posted to the Western Front, as part of the 8th Brigade, 5th Division AIF.
Photo: Corporal Fred Livingston [AWM H05737]
This photo has been reproduced with the permission of the Australian War Memorial
The first to enlist was Fred Livingston a 38 year old grazier, who enlisted on the 5th November 1914. His wife Lille stated on The Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour Circular, that he served with the mounted rifles prior to his enlistment. Private Livingston was to remain in Australia for nearly twelve months before embarking for overseas service. Livingston’s service record, available at the National Archives of Australia, gives no indication of why this occurred. By the time Fred embarked aboard HMAT Ascanius the nominal roll recorded his rank as Lance Corporal and a member of ‘D’ Company 29th Battalion. His service record does record his promotion to Corporal while in camp in Egypt.
Also sailing aboard HMAT Ascanius, and also in ‘D’ Company, was 18 year old Private James Gordon, who enlisted on 26th July 1915. Private Gordon’s service record contains the letter from his father giving his permission for James to enlist in the AIF.
The HMAT Ascanius departed Melbourne on 20th November 1915 bound for the Australian training camps in Egypt, where the AIF would undergo a doubling in size and reorganization after its withdrawal from the Gallipoli campaign. The Australian War Memorial states: The 8th Brigade joined the newly raised 5th Australian Division in Egypt and proceeded to France, destined for the Western Front, in June 1916. The 29th Battalion fought its first major battle at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. The nature of this battle was summed up by one 29th soldier: “the novelty of being a soldier wore off in about five seconds…it was like a bloody butcher’s shop.”
The 8th Brigade was positioned on the northern end of the Australian attack line at The Battle of Fromelles. Both Corporal Livingston and Private Gordon were amongst the 5,533 Australian casualties from the disastrous attack on the heavily defended ‘Sugar Loaf’ Salient at Fromelles. Corporal Livingston was reported killed in action by his commanding officer on 19th July 1916. His wife was officially notified of his death in a cable dated 8th August 1916. The news of Private Gordon’s death however was not confirmed until March 1917. Private James Gordon had served his country for one week short of a year when he made the supreme sacrifice.
The bodies of neither of these two soldiers were recovered and it was not until the research of amateur historian Lambis Englezos that the clue to their possible burial place was revealed. Nineteen members of the 29th Battalion were listed amongst the 175 missing diggers from the Battle of Fromelles. Searching through the Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau Files of Private Gordon and Corporal Livingston provided Lambis with the vital clue to where these soldiers had been buried. Included in the files were copies of the German death vouchers completed by the German army when they cleared their trenches, after the battle, and the subsequent appearance of their names on German death lists. The second vital clue was the documentation stating that the identity discs of both soldiers had been returned to their families.
These two Australian soldiers volunteered for service in the AIF and both enlisted in Victoria, both embarked together from Australia in the same company, both trained together in Egypt before being posted together to the Western Front. Here they made the supreme sacrifice together on the same day during the Battle of Fromelles. Both fallen soldiers were removed from the battlefield by the Germany Army and transported by light rail systems.
Photo: German soldiers transporting bodies
The Australian soldiers were taken to the field adjacent to Pheasant Wood where they were placed in pits and lay undetected for nearly 92 years.
Photo: Pheasant Wood excavation trench
The Australian Army last year commissioned Glasgow University Archaeological Research Department (GUARD) to undertake non-invasive surveys to assess the likelihood of burials having taken place at Pheasant Wood, and whether the ground had been disturbed by subsequent recovery. This year’s excavations have confirmed the presence of a significant number of human remains, consistent with the German accounts of the burials of Australian and British soldiers in the pits at Pheasant Wood.
The next stage is for the Australian Government to consider the preliminary report prepared by GUARD containing the recommendations in the context of the The Defence Instructions (General) Missing In Action Presumed Killed: Recovery Of Human Remains Of Australian Defence Force Members.
In 2003, the then Prime Minister, John Howard, set out the arrangements regarding the possible existence of war graves containing the remains of Australian soldiers killed in France during the Battle of Fromelles in 1916, in a letter to the then Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr. The Prime Minister indicated:
“I strongly agree however, that if the reports can be substantiated of a mass grave containing the remains of Australian soldiers does exist, every effort must be made to identify and appropriately honour these soldiers.” [Emphasis added]
He went on to say:
“Upon looking into the matter, I am advised that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has responsibility for the investigation, recovery and reburial of the remains of Australian military personnel, whereas the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and Office of War Graves are responsible for the official commemoration of Australian servicemen and women whose remains are found at battlefield sites. The nature of the ADF’s responsibility is reflected in the content of the Defence Instructions (General) issued pursuant to Section 9A of the Defence Act 1903. These Instructions provide the ADF with the discretion to investigate the recovery of remains alleged to be those of an ADF member where a certain stringent conditions set out in the instructions are met.”
In summary, it is Australian Government policy, where human remains are reported to the ADF and those remains are verified to be those of ADF members serving during World War I and listed as missing in action, presumed killed, the remains are to be buried in the nearest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery to the place of death.
In regard to Fromelles, the Australian Army is nominated as the investigating authority and the Defence Instruction sets out its responsibilities to “assess the feasibility of successfully recovering any remains given the information provided, the size of the area to be searched, sensitivity to local issues (for example the need to disturb other grave sites in order to recover unknown remains) and the reliability of the informant.”
If the preliminary report containing the recommendations of the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Department (GUARD), recommends that the recovery of the remains is feasible, The Australian Army, as the investigating authority, is required by the Defence General Instructions 14 to “liaise with the Surgeon General ADF … for provision of forensic experts.”
The Office of Australian War Graves is to advise of the appropriate Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in which the remains should be interred.
In the case of the men buried in Pheasant Wood, the nearest open Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery may not have the capacity to include up to 400 new burials, which may result in the men being separated. An alternative might be to extend VC Corner, Cemetery, however as Madame Demassiet has indicated her intent to gift the Pheasant Wood land for the purposes of a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, this will be the most likely site.
Photo: Madame Demassiet and her grandson [Carole Laignel]
Where remains are identified as belonging to an ADF member, funeral arrangements are to be in accordance with normal military procedures and where and next of kin can be contacted, the Australian Army is to notify the next of kin of the circumstances surrounding the finding of the remains and a funeral arrangements being undertaken.
The Office of Australian War Graves, acting in conjunction with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in accordance with Defence General Instruction 16 is to assign a burial plot for the remains in the appropriate Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, erect a suitable headstone at the grave site and maintain the grave in perpetuity.
For a more detailed account of how The Defence Instructions (General) Missing In Action Presumed Killed: Recovery Of Human Remains Of Australian Defence Force Members PERS 20-4, issued on 12 December 1996 applies to the circumstances of Pheasant Wood click here and a full copy of The Defence Instructions (General) is available on-line at http://austmia.com/DI(G)PERS20-4.htm