Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science for his very comprehensive statement today. I rise to respond to Minister Combet’s statement on the progress of the project underway in Fromelles, France. The project is the excavation of the remains of up to 300 Australian and British soldiers from World War I who will be reinterred in the new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, which will be known as the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. This is more than just a project; it is a quintessential story of Australia and our Anzac tradition. I speak today about the closing chapter of a story that started more than 90 years ago.

The Battle of Fromelles was the first battle fought by the Australians on the Western Front and the first battle for the 5th Division. The doomed attack at Fromelles on the night of 19 July 1916 proved also to be the most costly battle fought by Australians during the First World War. Tragically, there were 5,533 members of the Australian 5th Division recorded as killed, wounded or missing. Our allies, the British 61st Division, reported 1,547 killed, wounded or missing. German casualties were estimated at fewer than 1,000. The disaster at Fromelles was not the worst in Australia’s military history but it was the worst 24 hours in Australian history. The 5,533 casualties were suffered in just one night. The Australian toll at Fromelles is equivalent to the total Australian casualties of the Boer War, Korean War and Vietnam War put together.

The Battle for Fromelles began 19 days after the opening of the Somme campaign. This was not coincidental as, according to British official history, the purpose of the Battle of Fromelles was to prevent the Germans thinning out their forces from areas of the front not heavily engaged and using them to reinforce the Somme front 80 kilometres to the south. The battle occurred in northern France just south of Armentieres. The most prominent feature in this area, Aubers Ridge, was a major terrain feature which the British tried to capture in two vicious battles during 1915. In this part of France, the low-lying land and very high water table made the ground boggy and any diggings quickly filled with water—a relevant point for today’s statement.

As shadow minister for veterans’ affairs I had the honour to visit Fromelles in November last year. I saw firsthand the challenge faced by our men and the nature of the terrain. My grandfather fought at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, and my family was fortunate that he returned safely to Australia, although he was never the same and he mourned the loss of many of his mates. Fromelles was a tragedy that shaped our country. Families lost loved ones: sons, brothers, husbands and fathers—a generation almost wiped out overnight. Many at home in Australia were left to grieve and wonder how life might have been. Many families have had to live without knowing the final resting place of their loved one, and this indeed impacts on families to this day. Many of those killed in the battle could not be accounted for at the time. Historians have long speculated that up to 400 of the missing were recovered by the Germans in the days following the attack and buried behind the lines.

The story remained unfinished for many decades. This is an Australian story and we do not give up easily. Lambis Englezos from Melbourne opened the page. In 2002, following a visit to the Fromelles battlefield, Lambis began his investigation that would eventually lead to the recovery operation taking place at Pheasant Wood. He compared the lists of Australian missing from the battle with the numbers of unidentified Australian soldiers recovered from the battlefield and buried in cemeteries in the surrounding area. Lambis found a substantial shortfall: more than 160 men were unaccounted for. He could not believe that the bodies of these men had simply disappeared; they must still be there, undiscovered, close to the place where they had died.

Painstaking research began. Lambis hunted down information, followed possible leads and references and attracted support for his view that a significant number of Australian and British dead had been buried, as believed, by the Germans after the battle. Evidence from First World War Red Cross records held by the Australian War Memorial, references in German regimental histories and aerial photographs taken before and after the battle showed what might be burial pits behind the German lines at Pheasant Wood. The evidence was of sufficient interest for the Australian Army to convene a panel of the Army History Unit in 2005 to consider the claims. The panel was not yet convinced.

In the summer of 2005 Lambis met British historian Peter Barton, who was on a lecture tour in Australia. Peter was co-secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group and suggested that the Bavarian regimental archives might hold crucial evidence. A request was sent off to Munich for a check to be made in any files with a reference to Fromelles. It was more than a year before the response came back, but with it was a copy of a document dated 21 July 1916 and written by Julius Ritter von Braun—the colonel commanding the Bavarian 21st Reserve Infantry Regiment—ordering the construction of mass graves for up to 400 ‘English’ soldiers behind Pheasant Wood. This document tipped the balance.

In Australia the Army History Unit reconvened. In London, Peter Barton presented the case to the All Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefield Heritage Group, bringing in British interest. If the Pheasant Wood mass graves contained as many as 400 bodies and only 160 of them were Australian, the rest must be British. Finally, in 2007, agreement was reached that there were burials made at Pheasant Wood. Lambis’s hunch and Australia’s tenacious spirit ensured that this Australian story continues.

Minister Combet has sought to assure the relatives of the Australian soldiers killed during the Battle of Fromelles that the recovery and reinterment of the remains of their long-lost family members is being carried out appropriately. It is important to acknowledge that there are strong and sincerely held views from various sections of the community in relation to the activity at Pheasant Wood. Some believe that the remains of the soldiers should be left in peace; however, many people think it is absolutely appropriate to ensure that proper burials take place for those who gave their lives for our nation. This certainly would enable and facilitate closure for family members.

Media stories first appeared in early July about concerns over the process being carried out in France. It was, and is, troubling to hear reports of possible complications with the project. It was not surprising that this generated concern among relatives. I have spoken at length to a number of families, and to one woman in particular who was hopeful that her great-uncle may be identified. Her fear was that the lost diggers would remain just that, lost to their nation and their families. I hope that her fears will not come to fruition. Today’s comments by the minister are heartening.

The common position of everyone involved is that the experts at Oxford Archaeology must carry out their work with the utmost care and caution. Minister Combet’s clarification that the choice to engage Oxford Archaeology was an international decision reached using an open and transparent tender process that was in accordance with Commonwealth procurement guidelines is appreciated today. The recovery of soldiers’ remains should be treated sensitively and cannot be rushed under any circumstances. It is critical that families of the fallen have complete confidence in the process. I expect the government to keep Australians fully informed and I am heartened to hear the minister’s comments today regarding what is happening at Fromelles. I will be receiving a briefing from the minister tomorrow on the progress of the project and I appreciate his and his office’s willingness to work together with regard to this.

In closing, I wish to remind the House that the Australian and British remains at Pheasant Wood represent the lives of real people, with life stories, who form a part of our combined history. The Army is particularly interested in hearing from relatives of those soldiers they have yet to have contacts for. There is a list on the Fromelles website and I mention a couple: Private James Leslie Holmes of the 54th Battalion and Lance Corporal Harold Thompson Smith of the 8th Field Company.

The story is ongoing and the last chapter is still to be written. As explained today, there are extensive and challenging DNA investigations to be done before any headstones can be engraved at the new cemetery. There is also anthropological, archaeological and historical information to be considered. What started in the beginning of the last century, long before the discovery of penicillin and men walking on the moon, will be aided by the finest science of the 21st century. I look forward with all Australians to being able to commemorate the Battle of Fromelles when all chapters of the Fromelles story will be able to be told—and hopefully brought to some completion—on the 94th anniversary in July 2010. Only then will these lost diggers rest in peace. Lest we forget.

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