Final resting place for an unknown hero
Source: Agencies |
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE remains of a World War I soldier left in a mass grave for more than 90 years were moved by a four-horse carriage to a new cemetery for reburial with full honors yesterday in a ceremony attended by Prince Charles, relatives and high-ranking government officials.
German machine guns and artillery left more than 5,500 Australians and more than 1,500 British killed, wounded or missing in less than 24 hours at the Battle of Fromelles, the first Australian combat operation on the Western Front. Many of the dead were buried by Germans in a mass grave, which was discovered by an Australian amateur historian in a muddy field on the edge of a small wood in 2008.
After more than two years of exhumation and identification work by archaeologists, 249 of the bodies were reburied under marble gravestones laid out in a V shape in a new cemetery in the French town of Fromelles.
A coffin containing the remains of the last soldier was moved and laid in a new grave yesterday, as relatives of the dead read out letters and diary entries from the soldiers, as well as letters from commanding officers commending the men's bravery. The ceremony was attended by Australian officials and Britain's Prince Charles, who was wearing a grey suit adorned with military decorations. The event came on the 94th anniversary of the 1916 battle.
"In laying this last hero to rest we honor them all," Charles said in a speech. "Somehow, he and his friends mustered the incredible courage to climb over the parapets and into the battle," he said. "We will never know the impact that apocalyptic scene had upon him."
Photos of the dead were shown on a large screen, along with photos of objects found in the mass grave, like a crumpled return ticket to Perth, which an unknown soldier had stashed in the waterproof pouch of his gas mask.
Retired Australian banker Jim Parslow, 71, made the trip from Melbourne to honor his second cousin, William Moore, of the Australian infantry, who died at Fromelles at the age of 25.
German machine guns and artillery left more than 5,500 Australians and more than 1,500 British killed, wounded or missing in less than 24 hours at the Battle of Fromelles, the first Australian combat operation on the Western Front. Many of the dead were buried by Germans in a mass grave, which was discovered by an Australian amateur historian in a muddy field on the edge of a small wood in 2008.
After more than two years of exhumation and identification work by archaeologists, 249 of the bodies were reburied under marble gravestones laid out in a V shape in a new cemetery in the French town of Fromelles.
A coffin containing the remains of the last soldier was moved and laid in a new grave yesterday, as relatives of the dead read out letters and diary entries from the soldiers, as well as letters from commanding officers commending the men's bravery. The ceremony was attended by Australian officials and Britain's Prince Charles, who was wearing a grey suit adorned with military decorations. The event came on the 94th anniversary of the 1916 battle.
"In laying this last hero to rest we honor them all," Charles said in a speech. "Somehow, he and his friends mustered the incredible courage to climb over the parapets and into the battle," he said. "We will never know the impact that apocalyptic scene had upon him."
Photos of the dead were shown on a large screen, along with photos of objects found in the mass grave, like a crumpled return ticket to Perth, which an unknown soldier had stashed in the waterproof pouch of his gas mask.
Retired Australian banker Jim Parslow, 71, made the trip from Melbourne to honor his second cousin, William Moore, of the Australian infantry, who died at Fromelles at the age of 25.
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