{"id":4452,"date":"2009-06-17T09:13:42","date_gmt":"2009-06-16T22:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fffaif.wordpress.com\/?p=4452"},"modified":"2009-06-17T09:13:42","modified_gmt":"2009-06-16T22:13:42","slug":"dna-contractor-appointed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/?p=4452","title":{"rendered":"*DNA Contractor appointed"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was announced\u00a0on Tuesday 16 June 2009 on the Australian Army Fromelles Project <\/a>website that the DNA Contractor\u00a0for the Fromelles<\/strong>\u00a0Project<\/strong> has been awarded to\u00a0LGC Forensics <\/strong>to collect and analyse DNA samples from the remains of the the British and Australian soldiers buried by the Germans at Pheasant Wood following the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. If this proves viable, then DNA samples will be collected from potential descendants to match with samples from soldiers exhumed from the pits near Pheasant Wood.<\/p>\n

FFFAIF<\/em> Members Sandra Playle and Tim Lycett, with assistance from Andrew Pittaway and others,\u00a0have developed a database of known descendants of the 191 Australian soldiers thought to be buried in Pheasant Wood to facilitate DNA profiles to be obtained from descendants and compared with those that may be obtained from the soldier’s remains.\u00a0 In collaboration with the Australian Fromelles Project Group, descendants have now been identified for more than 140 of the soldiers and efforts are continuing to trace and contact descendants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The list of the names of the\u00a0191 Australian soldiers thought to be buried in Pheasant Wood can be viewed at the Fromelles Descendants’ Database website at http:\/\/www.fromelles.net\/<\/a>.\u00a0It lists the 191 soldiers’ names, presents photogtraphs of more than 80 of the soldiers and reports on the status of the preparation of the family history profiles.\u00a0The Fromelles Descendants’ Database also lists UK-born\u00a0Australian soldiers buried at Pheasant Wood\u00a0for whom no descendants have been identified.<\/p>\n

The Australian Fromelles Project Group website at http:\/\/www.army.gov.au\/fromelles\/Fromelles_Home.asp<\/a>\u00a0also contains the list of the soldiers’ names at http:\/\/www.army.gov.au\/fromelles\/docs\/WorkingList.pdf<\/a>\u00a0and requests that descendants register with them to enable details of DNA testing to be circulated to them.\u00a0 It also identifies 62 Australian soldiers buried at Pheasant Wood\u00a0for whom the Group does not have any descendants\u00a0identified as yet at http:\/\/www.army.gov.au\/fromelles\/docs\/Soldiers_Without_Contacts_11_Jun_09.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The media release on Wednesday 17 June 2009 from the office of the THE HON. GREG COMBET AM MP Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science and THE HON. ALAN GRIFFIN MP Minister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs stated:<\/span><\/p>\n

LGC FORENSICS WINS FROMELLES DNA CONTRACT<\/p>\n

Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, and Alan Griffin, Minister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs, today announced that LGC Forensics has been awarded the contract to analyse viable DNA from the remains of up to 400 World War One British and Australian soldiers found in Fromelles, France.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe awarding of this contract marks the next step in the process in identifying those Australian and British soldiers who fought and died on 19 and 20 July 1916 at the battle of Fromelles,\u201d said Mr Combet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United Kingdom and Australian Governments are jointly committed to honouring the service of these World War One British and Australian soldiers.\u00a0 The Australian Government will take every reasonable measure towards identifying these brave soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commonwealth War Graves Commission is overseeing the project on behalf of the UK and Australian Governments and has engaged LGC Forensics to undertake the DNA analysis.\u00a0 LGC Forensics provided the best solution to the specific project requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

LGC Forensics commenced a pilot study in early May to determine viability of the DNA in the remains.\u00a0It is anticipated that the results of this pilot study will be available by the end of July 2009.<\/p>\n

All descendants who have registered their details with the Fromelles Project will be contacted soon by the Government.\u00a0 The UK Government will also be contacting relatives who have registered with it. This will occur regardless of whether the pilot study finds viable DNA or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process of identification will be complex and is likely to take some time\u201d, said Mr Griffin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will involve examination of records, physical evidence gathered during the recovery of remains, and DNA comparison, if practical.\u00a0 The findings will then be considered by an identification board, which is likely to sit for the first time in March 2010, to ascertain whether the identity of any remains can be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the intention of both Australia and the UK, out of respect for the soldiers involved, that reinterment is not delayed pending completion of the identification process.\u00a0 Once all identification data is obtained, the remains will be reinterred with military honours in the new cemetery at Fromelles.\u00a0 This reinterment is expected to commence in early 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cemetery will be the first of its kind constructed in over 50 years and it will be dedicated on the anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles in July 2010.\u00a0 At that time, where identifications have been achieved, named headstones will be placed for each of the identified soldiers.\u00a0 The placement of named headstones will continue into the future as the identification process continues,\u201d Mr Griffin said.<\/p>\n

Background:<\/p>\n

The group burial at Pheasant Wood was confirmed during a limited excavation in May 2008 which was contracted by the Australian Government.\u00a0 It is believed up to 400 Australian and British soldiers were buried there by German forces following the Battle of Fromelles in July\u00a01916.<\/p>\n

The Battle of Fromelles began 19 days after the opening of the Somme campaign on 19 – 20\u00a0July, and was the first battle fought by Australians on the Western Front.\u00a0 It is known as Australia\u2019s bloodiest 24 hours with 5533 Fifth Australian Division casualties.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Archaeological excavation of the site was contracted to Oxford Archaeology and commenced in May 2009.\u00a0 Individual re-interment of remains the new Commonwealth War Graves Commission Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery is expected to be completed in February 2010.\u00a0 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is overseeing the excavation on behalf of both the Australian and United Kingdom Governments.<\/p>\n

For ongoing project updates or to register your details if you believe you may be related to a soldier buried at Pheasant Wood, go to www.army.gov.au\/fromelles or call\u00a01800\u00a0019\u00a0090.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The Families and Friends of the First AIF<\/strong><\/em> thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers \u2013\u00a0buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood by the Geremans following the Battle of Fromelles\u00a0on 19\/20 July 1916\u00a0\u2013 dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and applauds\u00a0the joint decision to DNA test the remains at exhumation and use every reasonable method to attempt identification of each soldier.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was announced\u00a0on Tuesday 16 June 2009 on the Australian Army Fromelles Project website that the DNA Contractor\u00a0for the Fromelles\u00a0Project has been awarded to\u00a0LGC Forensics to collect and analyse DNA samples from the remains of the the British and Australian … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}