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Source: ONE News
The identities of more than 200 British and Australian soldiers
buried in several mass graves in northern France during World War I
are expected to be revealed this week.
A joint British/Australian Identification Board has been
considering evidence in the last two weeks in an effort to identify
250 bodies found in Pheasant Wood, in Fromelles.
Both governments will announce the names of those who have been
identified.
The board has considered a variety of types of evidence, including
anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA
information.
According to the Times newspaper, 86 British families with
relatives thought to be in the grave have given DNA.
Families of identified soldiers will be contacted by the Australian
Army and Britain's Ministry of Defence initially by phone and then
by a follow-up letter, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(CWGC) said on its website.
Relatives of those not identified will be invited to continue to
take part in the project over the next four years.
The battle of Fromelles, in July 1916, saw the 5th Australian
Division suffer 5,533 casualties - the bloodiest day of fighting in
the country's history - while the 61st British Division suffered
1,547 casualties.
