Restless Diggers

The Battle of Fromelles was fought by the British and Empire forces 92 years ago. The AIF suffered 5,533 casualties in the battle and through the research of Lambis Englezos, the burial place of over 400 of the fallen soldiers, including 175 missing Australian diggers, has been confirmed.

 In June, a three week long archaeological dig pin-pointed the burial pits used by the German army to clear the Australian and British troops who died in German held territory. Those Australian soldiers who died in No-man’s Land and whose bodies were retrieved after the Armistice, in 1918, were laid to rest in VC Corner cemetery.

The Australian Government engaged the Glasgow University Archaeological Division (GUARD) to undertake a ‘limited excavation’ at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles which concluded on 13^th June.  The Australian Government press release stated that: The dig confirmed that remains still, in fact, lie at the site and ascertained their general condition and estimated number.

The head of the GUARD team was Dr Tony Pollard from the University of Glasgow.

Photo: Dr Tony Pollard, Pheasant Wood, June 2008 [Lambis Englezos]

Dr Pollard recently featured in an article The Glasgow Herald (Scotland) entitled Digging deep to reveal the human cost of war. Tony describes details of the number and condition of the soldiers’ remains and the effect on the team members in the weeks following the archaeological dig. Some of Tony’s other projects and interests are also discussed. To read the article click here.

Photo: Digger Bear

FROMELLES IS NOT HONOURED ON THE NATIONAL OR ANY STATE MEMORIAL IN AUSTRALIA.

FFFAIF SUPPORTS ALL EFFORTS TO RECOGNISE FROMELLES ON OR AT THE NATIONAL AND ALL STATE MEMORIALS THAT PRESENTLY LIST BATTLES BY NAME.

FFFAIF Policy Statement
The Families and Friends of the First AIF believes that the Australian Government through the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs should commit the to re-burial of the “missing of Fromelles” with individual graves and headstones in a new Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Pheasant Wood after DNA testing.