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JULY 2009
Oxford Archaeology had been awarded a contract to undertake the excavation of an Australian and British First World War group burial site at Fromelles, France and required the use of an Aireshelta in order to protect the site once work had begun.
The group burial at Pheasant Wood was confirmed during a limited excavation in May 2008. It is believed up to 400 Australian and British soldiers still lie at this site where they were buried by German forces following the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916.
The Battle of Fromelles began 19 days after the opening of the Somme campaign, and was the first battle fought by Australians on the Western Front. It is known as Australia’s bloodiest 24 hours with 5,533 Fifth Australian Division casualties including 1,917 killed.
“By the end of the project in 2010 all the bodies will be permanently laid to rest in individual graves at a new Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Fromelles. Wherever it is possible to identify the remains, named graves will be provided,” Minister for Veterans, Mr Kevan Jones said.
