![\"\"](\"http:\/\/fffaif.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/06\/2_-lambis-englezos-at-pheasant-wood-29-april-2008-before-dig-chris-munro-dscn0064_sml.jpg\" "\\"2_")
<\/p>\nThe following letter has been written by Lambis Englezos AM for publication on the FFFAIF website:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a>In the field of commemoration and remembrance, 2008 was a remarkable year: Jim Bourke, President of Operations Aussies Home,\u00a0and his team had made a promise and they kept that promise.\u00a0\u00a0The process they had \u00a0established, saw the\u00a0 recent return of the last\u00a0two of our\u00a0 six ”missing” Vietnam service people, the mass graves at Pheasant Wood\u00a0were confirmed and the HMAS Sydney was located.\u00a0 Our heritage and history became very tangible.\u00a0 Our ”missing” have been restored to their families, restored to their nation.\u00a0There is a joint ownership, it is not blood specific.\u00a0 *****<\/p>\n The Families and Friends of the First AIF<\/strong><\/em> applauds\u00a0the joint Australian\u2013UK 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\u00a0German soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles\u00a0on 19\/20 July 1916, in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery presently under construction at Fromelles.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The following letter has been written by Lambis Englezos AM for publication on the FFFAIF website: In the field of commemoration and remembrance, 2008 was a remarkable year: Jim Bourke, President of Operations Aussies Home,\u00a0and his team had made a … Continue reading
\nIt has been suggested to me that\u00a0the descendants are our constituents.\u00a0\u00a0With the recovery work\u00a0at Pheasant Wood, I would suggest that our constituents are the soldiers of Pheasant Wood.\u00a0 Each of the soldiers will receive the dignity of individual reburial and hopefully, their identity.\u00a0 I believe that every effort should be made to identify as many of the soldiers as possible. \u00a0
\nTo that end, I\u00a0suggest that,\u00a0if \u00a0LGC Forensics don’t get viable DNA from particular soldiers, then we should go back and re-sample them before their final burial.\u00a0 I ask that a full range of samples be taken, including load bearing bones, for example the femur and toe, and that those samples be sent elsewhere for testing.\u00a0 We can’t be held back by a restrictive tender process, professional pride or the dollar.\u00a0 We must do everything we possibly can to get viable DNA\u00a0 from each set of remains.\u00a0 We must maximise the chances of identification. \u00a0
\nGiven the veracity of the German list, I had hoped that donor samples could have been taken earlier.\u00a0 Once the decision was made to recover, samples could have been taken and sent over for matching, prior to the sitting of the Panel\u00a0and before\u00a0the soldiers\u00a0are reburied.\u00a0 I’m not a descendant, however, if I was, I’d rather be given the opportunity to be there for the burial of my soldier, rather than be there for the changing of a headstone.\u00a0
\nMaybe it has all been too hasty, too neat. The process continues, research is fluid and ongoing.\u00a0 There has been a lot of speculation, perhaps misinformation, this has been amplified by what some might say is a lack of transparency and inclusiveness. \u00a0 We are guessing that the majority of the 250 recoveries are Australian, especially if the pattern of recovery from the first\u00a0three pits was repeated in the remaining pits.\u00a0
\nAs was suggested, they were not all at Pheasant Wood.\u00a0 The question of alternative sites is apparent.\u00a0 It has been contended that there is an even bigger British site behind the Wick Salient.\u00a0 If there are 25 British among the Pheasant Wood recoveries, there are as many as 306 ”missing” British\u00a0 from the 19-7-16 battle.\u00a0 The ”missing” of the 9-5-15 battle of Aubers Ridge are also to be considered. \u00a0
\nA\u00a0major precedent has been set at Fromelles, there has been talk of the opening of the floodgates.\u00a0 It all goes back to the original question, the moral dilemma.\u00a0 Should we even be doing this at all.\u00a0 I believe we should.\u00a0 It is an open question.\u00a0 I believe that we should find and recover our war dead.\u00a0 Anonymous ground is not an adequate or appropriate grave.\u00a0 Non recovery would have sent a bad\u00a0message to our current serving people.\u00a0
\nWhat I saw at Pheasant Wood was certainly very\u00a0grim and confirmed for me that they were not at rest. We had to recover.\u00a0 We have a moral obligation, it offers dignity, hope, identity, ownership and pilgrimage. \u00a0
\nIf our ”missing” can be found, they should be recovered. The passage of time has not diminished our obligation, our honouring of their sacrifice. They will be restored.’ \u00a0
\nIn commemoration and remembrance
\n………Lambis<\/p>\n
![<\/a>In the field of commemoration and remembrance, 2008 was a remarkable year: Jim Bourke, President of Operations Aussies Home,\u00a0and his team had made a promise and they kept that promise.\u00a0\u00a0The process they had \u00a0established, saw the\u00a0 recent return of the last\u00a0two of our\u00a0 six ”missing” Vietnam service people, the mass graves at Pheasant Wood\u00a0were confirmed and the HMAS Sydney was located.\u00a0 Our heritage and history became very tangible.\u00a0 Our ”missing” have been restored to their families, restored to their nation.\u00a0There is a joint ownership, it is not blood specific.\u00a0\nIt has been suggested to me that\u00a0the descendants are our constituents.\u00a0\u00a0With the recovery work\u00a0at Pheasant Wood, I would suggest that our constituents are the soldiers of Pheasant Wood.\u00a0 Each of the soldiers will receive the dignity of individual reburial and hopefully, their identity.\u00a0 I believe that every effort should be made to identify as many of the soldiers as possible. \u00a0\nTo that end, I\u00a0suggest that,\u00a0if \u00a0LGC Forensics don’t get viable DNA from particular soldiers, then we should go back and re-sample them before their final burial.\u00a0 I ask that a full range of samples be taken, including load bearing bones, for example the femur and toe, and that those samples be sent elsewhere for testing.\u00a0 We can’t be held back by a restrictive tender process, professional pride or the dollar.\u00a0 We must do everything we possibly can to get viable DNA\u00a0 from each set of remains.\u00a0 We must maximise the chances of identification. \u00a0\nGiven the veracity of the German list, I had hoped that donor samples could have been taken earlier.\u00a0 Once the decision was made to recover, samples could have been taken and sent over for matching, prior to the sitting of the Panel\u00a0and before\u00a0the soldiers\u00a0are reburied.\u00a0 I’m not a descendant, however, if I was, I’d rather be given the opportunity to be there for the burial of my soldier, rather than be there for the changing of a headstone.\u00a0\nMaybe it has all been too hasty, too neat. The process continues, research is fluid and ongoing.\u00a0 There has been a lot of speculation, perhaps misinformation, this has been amplified by what some might say is a lack of transparency and inclusiveness. \u00a0 We are guessing that the majority of the 250 recoveries are Australian, especially if the pattern of recovery from the first\u00a0three pits was repeated in the remaining pits.\u00a0\nAs was suggested, they were not all at Pheasant Wood.\u00a0 The question of alternative sites is apparent.\u00a0 It has been contended that there is an even bigger British site behind the Wick Salient.\u00a0 If there are 25 British among the Pheasant Wood recoveries, there are as many as 306 ”missing” British\u00a0 from the 19-7-16 battle.\u00a0 The ”missing” of the 9-5-15 battle of Aubers Ridge are also to be considered. \u00a0\nA\u00a0major precedent has been set at Fromelles, there has been talk of the opening of the floodgates.\u00a0 It all goes back to the original question, the moral dilemma.\u00a0 Should we even be doing this at all.\u00a0 I believe we should.\u00a0 It is an open question.\u00a0 I believe that we should find and recover our war dead.\u00a0 Anonymous ground is not an adequate or appropriate grave.\u00a0 Non recovery would have sent a bad\u00a0message to our current serving people.\u00a0\nWhat I saw at Pheasant Wood was certainly very\u00a0grim and confirmed for me that they were not at rest. We had to recover.\u00a0 We have a moral obligation, it offers dignity, hope, identity, ownership and pilgrimage. \u00a0\nIf our ”missing” can be found, they should be recovered. The passage of time has not diminished our obligation, our honouring of their sacrifice. They will be restored.’ \u00a0\nIn commemoration and remembrance\n………Lambis<\/p>\n*****<\/p>\nThe Families and Friends of the First AIF<\/strong><\/em> applauds\u00a0the joint Australian\u2013UK 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\u00a0German soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles\u00a0on 19\/20 July 1916, in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery presently under construction at Fromelles.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The following letter has been written by Lambis Englezos AM for publication on the FFFAIF website: In the field of commemoration and remembrance, 2008 was a remarkable year: Jim Bourke, President of Operations Aussies Home,\u00a0and his team had made a … 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":[67,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commemorations","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7067","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=7067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/fffaif.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/06\/1_lambis_castle-hill_sml.jpg\"){kind=link}