Exhumations

[MelPack]

This blog by Louise Loe on the CWGC Fromelles site discloses some interesting information:

http://www.cwgc.org/fromelles/blog/?p=474

190 sets of remains have been recovered from Pits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (7 & 8 were defunct)

Pits 1, 2, 4 and 6 have been completed and backfilled.

There are 18 sets of remains to be recovered this week from Pit 3 that have already been exposed thereby creating a running total of 208 recovered.

This only leaves Pit 5 but first some comparisons:

Pit 3 has a confirmed total of 51 (18 of which are to be lifted) and measured 9.6m x 2.65m

Pit 4 has a confirmed total of 50 and measured 9.26m x 2.10 m

Pit 5 measures 9m x 2.20 m

which means that if this averages the same 50 as the other pits then we could be looking at a running total of circa 258 and if the suspicions of a third layer (there were only two in each of the other pits) prove to be well founded then the figure could rise to circa 280.

Mel

Edit: I have checked back on previous blogs and it was confirmed that only three sets of remains were recovered from Pit 6. It seems, therefore, that it would be highly unlikely to compress an extra layer of bodies into Pit 5 beyond the standard fifty given that Pit 6 was available for usage.

[topsey1234]

This blog by Louise Loe on the CWGC Fromelles site discloses some interesting information:

http://www.cwgc.org/fromelles/blog/?p=474

190 sets of remains have been recovered from Pits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (7 & 8 were defunct)

Pits 1, 2, 4 and 6 have been completed and backfilled.

There are 18 sets of remains to be recovered this week from Pit 3 that have already been exposed thereby creating a running total of 208 recovered.

This only leaves Pit 5 but first some comparisons:

Pit 3 has a confirmed total of 51 (18 of which are to be lifted) and measured 9.6m x 2.65m

Pit 4 has a confirmed total of 50 and measured 9.26m x 2.10 m

Pit 5 measures 9m x 2.20 m

which means that if this averages the same 50 as the other pits then we could be looking at a running total of circa 258 and if the suspicions of a third layer (there were only two in each of the other pits) prove to be well founded then the figure could rise to circa 280.

Mel

Mel

the other interesting thing to discover is whether at this stage any information emerges on the numbers split between British and Australian remains. We are told the majority are Australian, and whether any identifcation between units is possible. Do the buttons found etc give that information?

Its a point I want to raise next Monday when I attend the relatives meeting in Warwick. If for instance no Warwickshires have so far been found then it would be fairer to relatives to know that at an early stage rather than have hopes knocked back at a later stage.

I'm also curious as to whether the reports on each set of remains will be put into the public domain?

Also is there a translation any where available on the German officer's orders who got the pits dug and any thing recorded after they were dug of what actually happened?

Richard

[Tony Ring]

Just flown back to New Zealand from Brisbane, Australia last week and picked up a book to read on the plane by Patrick Lindsay - Fromelles. What a fascinating account of one of Australia's darkest days. I had heard vague stories about Fromelles but to read the book and then discover that a dedicated group is currently involved in the recovery, I am very impressed.

I will watch this thread with interest.

Thank you.

Tony

[MelPack]

the other interesting thing to discover is whether at this stage any information emerges on the numbers split between British and Australian remains. We are told the majority are Australian, and whether any identifcation between units is possible. Do the buttons found etc give that information?

Richard

That would certainly be interesting information.

I recall from one of the earlier blogs, when they had completed the recovery of about a hundred remains, that all but three could be identified by nationality because of artefacts such as buttons and webbing buckles.

There is certainly no harm in asking but whether you are provided with an answer is another matter.

Mel