Men of Fromelles

In the lead up to Remembrance Day newspapers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have released a series of articles based on the work of Tim Lycett and Sandra Playle, the founders of www.fromelles.net . Tim & Sandra, both FFFAIF members, have spent the past two years tracing the family trees of the ‘missing from Fromelles’. Their work has brought to light photographs of 85 of the ‘lost’ Diggers of Fromelles.

Click here  to a view a Multimedia presentation Pheasant Wood The Lost Diggers of Fromelles which supports the newspaper articles and includes:
*Who do these faces belong to?
*The names and stories of the 87 Fromelles men pictured in the newspaper articles;
*Paola Totaro’s special report and interviews relating to the work Tim Lycett and Sandra Playle have undertaken to reveal the identities of more than 190 lost soldiers and an interview with British Historian Peter Barton.

To read more about the research work of Tim and Sandra and the Diggers, follow the links below:

The Melbourne Age:
War and pieces of history
At last, we can see faces of the Fromelles Fallen
The story of Robert Courtney Green
The story of Leslie Leister
The story of John ‘James’ Gordon
The story of Edgar William Parham

The Sydney Morning Herald:
Face to face with the ‘lost’ 85 Diggers of Fromelles 

The Brisbane Times:
Bringing war heroes to life

Photo: Private Alfred Momplhait [Australian War Memorial Collection]

Multimedia presentation: Pheasant Wood The Lost Diggers of Fromelles

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Other Fromelles reports in the media this week include: 

The West Australian: Dreams lost in return ticket of Unknown soldier

A comprehensive article from the Daily Mail in the UK:
And still they find the fallen – The extraordinary inspiring operation identify honour hundreds Tommies just discovered mass grave near Somme.

Additional personal stories in The Tweed Daily News:

Carefully digging up the past
and
Hoping to find long lost uncle

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The Families and Friends of the First AIF applauds 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.