RIP - Remains of Soldiers - First World War

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British and Australian troops who died in the Battle of Fromelles to be reburied
The remains of British and Australian First World War soldiers killed in the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916 will be unearthed from a mass grave and reburied in individual plots at a new cemetery - as close as possible to where they were found. The mass grave (up to 400 bodies) by Pheasant Wood on the edge of Fromelles in France was discovered in May 2008 by an amateur historian and later confirmed by a team of archaeologists. The exhumation and reinterment will be carried out under the protection of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - and the men will be given full military honours to commemorate their courage. [ bbc.co.uk :: 2008-08-01 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

British soldiers buried with diggers - British Army buttons and a matchbox unearthed
The British-made matchbox and army 2 buttons were discovered as archaeologists began the final stages of their search for up to 400 Australian and UK soldiers thought to have been buried near Fromelles by German troops in World War I. The discovery comes after two Australian Rising Sun collar badges worn by Australian soldiers during WWI were discovered earlier. Archaeologists, who have also found human remains belonging to about 30 individuals, think the badges, matchbox and buttons give the strongest indication that Australian and British troops are buried together in the mass grave. [ theaustralian :: 2008-06-16 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

First World War grave at Fromelles unearths political minefield
The digging up of WWI remains in the German-dug mass grave may ease the grief of some families, but it has created a headache for the Australian and British armies. With 400 Australian and British soldiers buried together, how will we reconcile the different expectations of the find? Both countries are party to a postwar agreement, that they won't launch specific searches; that their war dead remain where they fell, but it is different when "compelling" evidence is found to justify individual probes. In the past decade, expectations of postwar recovery of casualties have changed dramatically. [ theage :: 2008-06-02 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Search begins for Australian First World War diggers
92 years ago, Australia staggered as news came through from the WWI battlefields of France that 5533 diggers had been either killed, wounded or taken prisoner in one night. Of the 1,719 Australians who perished during the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916, the bodies of 170 were never found. However, they have never been forgotten. On Monday, a team is due to start a project to try and find their remains on the outskirts of Fromelles. The much-anticipated dig is based on research that after winning the battle, German troops buried the remains of Australian and British soldiers in at least 5 mass graves. [ theage :: 2008-05-26 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Digger graves snub for Aussies - British battlefield archeologist hired again
A British battlefield archeologist has been hired to do excavations to resolve if the bodies of WWI Diggers lie in Pheasant Wood, France. The Australian Army has re-engaged Tony Pollard of GUARD, in spite of criticism of his report of earlier work at the site. The decision has sidelined Australian experts who had offered to look into the site at no cost. Historian Roger Lee, of the Army History Unit, said: "We went with GUARD because they were familiar with the site..." Chris Bryett, of the not-for-profit group Recovering Overseas Australia's Missing (ROAM), said: "We can't understand why GUARD have been engaged again, given the quality of the report they did last time." [ news :: 2008-02-08 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

World War I fallen find peace in France - Monuments and cemeteries
I came to see the site where 500,000 British casualties occurred in July-Oct. 1916. To walk the no man's land where 65,000 British troops emerged from their trenches at 8 a.m. July 1. To try to imagine the 50,000 British casualties lying in the hot summer sun only 8 hours later. To boost enlisting in 1914 the British Army created PAL Brigades, which allowed buddies to serve together. But with the water-cooled machine gun, an entire brigade could easily be wiped out. To honor those lost, villages built monuments to their PAL Brigades. ... The German cemeteries are well-kept, but not numerous, because the French limited the Germans' access to land to bury their dead. [ desmoinesregister :: 2008-01-13 :: Tributes ]

How to trace a war grave - the best places to start
If you're trying to trace the grave of a relative who died on active service, these are your first contacts: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains 2,500 war cemeteries in 150 countries. The Debt of Honour Register on its site is a database listing the men and women from Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars. --- National Archives houses Army Lists, usually organised by regiment, and the Medal Roll Index, listing servicemen's medal entitlement, rank and unit and possibly their postings. The Archives also has battalion war diaries and census records. [ timesonline :: 2007-11-10 ]

Skeleton Of Bulgarian World War I Soldier Found In Macedonia
Archaeologically excavations of necropolis of the ancient city of Heraclea Lyncestis near Bitola, Macedonia, uncovered the skeleton of a Bulgarian World War I soldier. "We found a large quantity of partial skeletons of Bulgarian soldiers, parts of coats, buttons and coins." The most interesting find was the well-preserved skeleton of a young Bulgarian soldier with coins of that period in his pocket. "What shocked us was that he was still holding a pencil stump in his right hand." During WWI the front line ran across the area of Bitola, where a cemetery of Bulgarian soldiers and officers was discovered. [ sofiaecho :: 2007-10-31 ]

Photographic Exhibition Honours War Dead - 27 pictures
A photo exhibition celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with 27 images of war graves and memorials throughout the world in the Hall of Memories, the National War Memorial in Wellingtonon. The pictures are taken from the book "Remembered: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission" by Brian Harris. The Commission, a non-profit organisation based in UK, takes care of the 1.7 million graves of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two World Wars. A selection of high resolution images is available for press purposes at: http://www.nationalwarmemorial.govt.nz/cwgc-exhibition.html [ scoop :: 2007-10-19 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Lost for 90 years, Passchendaele diggers identified by DNA
They were lost for 90 years, killed in the Passchendaele battlefields of 1917. Now DNA technology has identified the remains of two Australian World War 1 diggers unearthed last year in the Belgian hamlet of Westhoek, east of Ypres. Sergeant George Calder and Private John Hunter will be overlooked no more. The remains matched with DNA taken from living descendants of the two soldier. They will be buried with full military honours at Belgium's Buttes Cemetery on October 4. The remains of 6 Anzac bodies were unusually well preserved when uncovered, buried in blankets tied up with signal wire, dirt-smudged rising sun badges pinned to the uniforms. [ theage :: 2007-09-05 :: Australia - Expeditionary Force ]

Mystery of Great War's lost army uncovered
They made the ultimate sacrifice, hurling themselves from the trenches before vanishing in a hail of German bullets. Now, more than 90 years after hundreds of British and Commonwealth soldiers died in World War I killing fields, historians believe they have found several mass graves containing the remains of the "lost army". The find is the biggest of its kind since the end of the Great War and may lead to the uncovering of 399 soldiers who were killed but whose bodies were never found and the building of the first new British war cemetery since the 1960s. 239 are probably from the British 61st Division and 160 from the Australian 5th Division. [ telegraph :: 2007-07-22 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

13-year old girl buys gravestones for the First World War soldiers
They will be remembered. 6 world war one veterans buried at Mountainview Cemetary now have proper headstones thanks to a 13-year old girl. Their graves went unmarked for decades but now they have been given granite gravemarkers and honoured by a veterans colour guard. Amanda Neil raised over $1300 through bottle collecting and donations. Even more impressive: she closed the ceremony by presenting another cheque to buy one more headstone. Mountainview Cemetary is the resting place of over 12000 veterans - and over 900 don't have markers. [ cknw :: 2007-07-17 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

First World War Lancashire Fusiliers finally buried in Flanders fields
90 years after being killed in battle, 4 Lancashire Fusiliers, 3 of whom are unknown soldiers, were laid to rest in Flanders fields. Full military honours were accorded to Private Richard Lancaster and 3 other soldiers a week before the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. Soldiers from the First Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers formed a guard of honour as Last Post was sounded at ceremonies at Prowse Point and the Tyne Cot British war cemetery. [ telegraph :: 2007-07-06 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Concerns Anzac remains at Gallipoli neglected as bones surface
The Commonwealth is under pressure to do more to protect the remains of ANZAC troops killed at Gallipoli. In 2005 Turkey was criticised, after roadworks unearthed human remains. Dr Peter Dowling says he found more remains in another section of the battlefield. "They probably came from the same individual ... eroding out of the slope next to the road, and they were quite visible. There's an almost 100% likelihood that any excavation, any roadworks in that area is going to uncover and disturb human skeletal pieces. We're talking about the disposal of the remains of young Anzac soldiers ... they probably deserve better treatment than they're getting now." [ abc :: 2007-06-14 :: Anzac Day - Gallipoli ]

WWI grave revives forgotten battle of Fromelles - Army insignia found
Archaeologists say they have found the mass burial site of up to 400 soldiers British and Australian troops who were killed near the site of the Battle of Fromelles - daylight assault on heavily fortified positions, conceived to divert German attention away from the Somme in July 1916. A metal detector survey revealed a number of artefacts including objects with Australian Army insignia on them. It is believed Adolf Hitler, then a corporal in the Bavarian reserve infantry, ran messages behind the German lines during the battle. And the bunker Hitler visited in the 1940s is said to be just a few hundred yards from the burial site. [ bbc :: 2007-06-09 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

3 fallen Canadian soldiers found near historic Vimy battleground
The remains of three Canadian soldiers killed in World War 1 have been unearthed from an old battlefield near the French town of Hallu, not far from the site where thousands of Canadians are gathering to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the country's landmark 1917 victory at Vimy Ridge. News of the find also comes as officials and relatives of another WWI soldier Pte. Herbert Peterson prepare to bury his recently discovered remains during a ceremony at a French military cemetery. [ canada :: 2007-04-08 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Australian Army Progress In Bid To Identify WW1 Remains
The Australian Army has made progress in its efforts to identify 6 World War I Australian soldiers whose remains were discovered in Belgium in 2006. The site where the remains were unearthed, on the Western Front near the hamlet Westhoeck, was a temporary burial ground for Australian soldiers killed in the Third Battle of Ypres. "In the immediate post-war period, teams of soldiers exhumed bodies from the temporary cemeteries and they were re-interred in the permanent war cemeteries which today dot the sites of the great Western Front battles. While the recovery operations were thorough and comprehensive, not all remains were recovered." [ scoop :: 2007-03-11 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

DND: Remains of First World War Soldier Identified
Almost 90 years after his death, Private Herbert Peterson will be laid to rest with his comrades in arms at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery in April 2007 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. During a night raid on June 8th and 9th, 1917, 16 members of the 49th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, were reported missing on the German front near Vimy Ridge. In Oct 2003, two sets of human remains were found in the vicinity of Vimy Ridge. Due to their location, artifacts and uniform buttons and badges, they were believed to be members of that same battalion. The Directorate of History and Heritage has identified one of them as Peterson. [ ccnmatthews :: 2007-03-03 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Another battle of Fromelles is being fought over Diggers' remains
It was an absolute disaster. Designed to divert the German army from the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Fromelles was a debacle. Just 12 hours after they went over the top in July 1916, the Australian Imperial Force's first battle on the Western Front, nearly 2000 Diggers lay dead, more than were killed during any single day at Gallipoli. The Carey brothers were among them. Jack was hit in the face by shrapnel. He lies buried in a cemetery near Fromelles. Tim was cut down by machine-gun fire. Along with 163-169 other Diggers and more than 300 British soldiers, Tim Carey was listed as missing in action. To this day, relatives don't know where his bones lie. [ theaustralian :: 2007-03-03 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

State of war graves is 'betrayal'
There is growing anger over the appalling state of hundreds of war graves lying ruined in a Preston graveyard. Behind the rows of military headstones lie hundreds of stories of valour. From World War 1 graves to those who have died in operations across the world. But one ex-serviceman claims the state of some stones is a "betrayal" of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains First and Second World War graves and cleans them yearly. Other service personnel tombstones are the duty of their families. But David Hughes, an ex-Royal Artillery member, believes more should be done to maintain them. [ lep :: 2007-03-03 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Expert enlisted to find remains of the battle of Fromelles diggers
The Australian Army has asked an expert in battlefield archaeology to locate the remains of 170 First World War diggers, killed in the first major assault by the Australian troops on the Western Front. 5,500 Australian soldiers were killed in the battle of Fromelles, designed to draw German troops away from the Somme offensive. The Fifth Australian Division took part in the full-scale assault in July 1916. War historians say the attack was doomed from the start. In less than 27 hours, 5,500 Australian soldiers were killed. The bodies of more than 170 soldiers were never recovered. [ abc :: 2007-02-08 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

Minister snubs war graves experts - Fromelles battlefield
An offer from leading archeologists to investigate a WW1 grave - at no cost to taxpayers - has been rejected by Bruce Billson, who has opted to pay battlefield archeologist Tony Pollard $150,000. Billson asked Dr Pollard to conduct "non-invasive" geophysical analysis, something Dr Pollard is not experienced in. His expertise lies in "conflict archeology" - heritage management of battlefields. "It's just astonishing," said professor Richard Wright, who volunteered to lead the field probe. "Geophysics is not necessary to find the graves." They were visible in historical photographs and modern satellite imagery. [ theaustralian :: 2007-02-08 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

U.S. war dead from foreign battlefields identified
For the first time, a Pentagon group charged with identifying U.S. war dead from foreign battlefields has identified the remains of a soldier killed in World War I. Army Pvt. Francis Lupo was killed on July 21, 1918, during an attack on German forces near Soissons, France. His remains were discovered in 2003 and identified by the Pentagon's Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab. Larry Greer, a spokesman on POW-MIA issues, said it was the first time the remains of a WW1 service member have been recovered and identified since the office was established in the 1960s. [ usatoday :: 2006-09-25 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

WWI Diggers' bodies found the old western front battlefields
89 years ago five soldiers died in the mud and blood of Passchendaele in the carnage of World War I, and their bodies were lost until this month. It is believed the five are Australian and there's a chance they could be identified. Australian War Memorial historian Ashley Ekins is hopeful, especially if anything remains of their badges and id tags. The remains of WW1 soldiers are regularly found on the old western front battlefields but seldom identified. If the five bodies did prove to be Australians, they most likely went missing in 1917 in the Battle for Broodseinde Ridge. [ theaustralian :: 2006-09-21 :: RIP - Remains of Soldiers ]

The ghosts of Ypres past return
Nearly 90 years after the guns fell silent, the mud of Flanders is still giving up its secrets. This week, in a farmer's field near Ypres, a group of amateur historians found the remains of three soldiers from the First World War. Two of the bodies bore no identification, although one still had half its uniform, as well as a spoon, fork and a bayonet. On the third, the historians found an identification tag. [ bbc :: 2006-04-15 :: Battle of the Ypres ]

First World War in the News is an edited review of hand-picked World War I 1914-1918 articles.