The Beaucamps Ligny 15

[MelPack]

A report has been submitted to the MoD recommending that DNA tests should be conducted on the remains and on the relatives of 58 men from the 2nd Y&Ls who were killed in action between 18 - 25 October 1914 but have no known graves. As with the Fromelles project, the purpose is to establish the individual identities of the recovered remains if it is possible to do so.

I would like to elicit the support of other Board members by encouraging them to write to their MPs for the onward transmission of their correspondence to the Minister for Veterans lobbying the same for a ministerial commitment that DNA testing will be undertaken.

Taking the route via your MP is considerably more effective than writing direct to the Ministry and, at the very least, guarantees that a reply will be forthcoming.

Timing is also crucial. If letters are sent to your MPs during the next week or so then they will hit the Ministerial desk precisely around the time of the Fromelles cemetery opening which would clearly provide an advantageous climate for advancing the case.

My main concern, along with others on the Board, is that, in the current climate of expenditure cuts, identification of the BL 15 is likely to be regarded as a low priority and that the men may be interred without every avenue to establish their individual identity having been exhausted.

Please help – the more letters that are sent and from different parts of the country then the greater the likelihood that a positive outcome will be achieved.

Mel

Edit: Please read my post at #183 on page 8 of the thread

[MelPack]

If you are pressed for time but would still like to help then the sample letter below can be copied, pasted and adapted according to the points that you wish to make. It is not intended to be a template letter.

Mel

Xxxx xxxxx MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

Dear

RE: RECOVERY OF THE BODIES OF FIRST WORLD WAR SOLDIERS

As you are probably aware a new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Fromelles is due to be opened on 19 July next with the burial of the last soldier of the 250 recovered from the mass burial pits at Pheasant Wood.

A significant number of the 250 soldiers have already been successfully identified thanks to the respective Australian and British governments endorsing a DNA testing programme so that samples from the living relatives of missing soldiers can be matched with those of the recovered remains.

Another significant mass burial site was uncovered last November in the small village of Beaucamps Ligny just west of Lille consisting of fifteen British soldiers killed in the early stages of the First World War.

The location of the remains and the artefacts found with them indicate that they are drawn from soldiers of the 2^nd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment who were killed in action between 18 – 25 October 1914 but have no known graves.

There are only 58 soldiers that fall into this category thereby creating a discrete and workable group for DNA testing along the lines of the much larger Fromelles project. All the indications are that if such a programme was adopted then most, if not all, of the fifteen soldiers could be buried in named graves.

I would like to call upon your help to ensure that the Ministry of Defence meets its obligations to these soldiers and that they will not be consigned to permanent anonymity because they are of another generation.

I would very much appreciate your eliciting a commitment from Andrew Robathan, the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans, that a DNA testing programme of the relatives of the 58 missing soldiers will be undertaken to secure the identification of the recovered fifteen sets of remains.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours sincerely

[Seadog]

Mel, thank you for all of the work that you have done to give the authorities the possibility of identifying the 15 British Soldiers. Your letter was most helpful and has been sent to my MP tonight. I do hope that we can emulate the excellent work undertaken by our Australian friends that has led to the magnificent result at Fromelles.

On this day the 1st July as we remember those who fell in the Battle of the Somme all those years ago we are all of us presented with a opportunity to ensure by our best efforts that all available steps will be taken so that the men from 1914 can at least be given the chance of the dignity of a name when they are finally laid to rest.

Regards

Norman

[JimSmithson]

Brilliant bit of work. Not sure who to send mine to as I don't have an MP but I will think of someone - probably the Defence Minister as I suppose he is my ultimate boss!

Jim

[ianw]

I will certainly support this effort with a letter.

Ian

[Martin Bennitt]

I don't have an MP either, but I am a UK citizen. Who is the defence minister and what's his address?

cheers Martin B

[dfaulder]

To find your MP or even email him:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/

Also shows what your MP has been up to (mine asking a PMQ that ended "Does the Prime Minister agree that it is everyone's duty, not just in the House but all around the country, to go the extra mile and show the gratitude that we all have for our brave troops?"

David

[Steven Broomfield]

I don't have an MP either, but I am a UK citizen. Who is the defence minister and what's his address?

cheers Martin B

Try "Liam Fox, House of Commons".

Good luck all: I've always been ambivalent about these things, but in this case you have my support.

[rendellers]

Mel - thank you for the draft

David - Thank you for giving me the link to my MP: I could only remember the one who lost the election

Job done

Lindsey

[MelPack]

Thanks everyone for your heartening response.

At least a dozen direct bloodline relatives of the missing men that I have established contact with are also writing to their MPs in a similar vein.

Dean from Sheffield will be using his local history forum to advance the case and will be running a publicity campaign in the local papers.

Keep the confirmations coming.

Mel

[Chris Noble]

Hi Mel.

SO important this.

Letter sent now.

Chris.

[Roger H]

I agree that this should be taken up. My letter now sent.

Roger

[Seadog]

For those members who may have missed the original thread it is here:

British Soldiers found (GWF)

Regards

Norman

[Roger H]

Success. My MP (John Hemming Lib/Dem) has replied to my e-mail and has said that he will ask his team to take it up with the Minister.

Roger

Edited to add: And what a quick response from the MP in question!

[Seadog]

Roger that is excellent news, I have received an email acknowledgement of receipt from my MP. This however is quite normal and the lady has in the past taken up my request to contact a third party and then detailed the results in a letter. The more members that do this then the more chances there will be that some or maybe all of the 15 men from 1914 are identified.

Regards

Norman

[trenchtrotter]

E mail sent!

TT

[auchonvillerssomme]

Email on its way.

Mick

[Dragon]

Please don't think I'm being picky, but for the sake of professionalism, the sentence needs to read, 'There are only 58 soldiers that fall into this category thereby creating a discrete and workable group...' (not discreet).

Andrew Robathon is Parliamentary Under Secretary for Defence Personnel and Veterans, (no comma after Defence - it makes a difference). The Secretary of State for Defence is Rt Hon Liam Fox MP.

It's also worth writing to their Opposition personnel: Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary is Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth MP. Elfyn Llwyd MP is Plaid Cymru's Defence person, Angus Robertson MP is SNP and Jeffrey Donaldson MP is DUP. Adapt the same letter and send to David Cameron and to Nick Clegg.

As someone who has run MP campaigns in the past (for national charities), may I suggest that someone creates a database of which MPs have been written to and which have not. (It doesn't matter if an MP gets lots of letters, but it matters if a lot get none.) I would also include information about what they have promised to do, so you get an overall picture.

Good luck.

Gwyn

[MelPack]

Hello Gwyn

I have been suitably chastened and made the amendments.

Thanks for pointing out the boo boos.

Mel

[Dragon]

My post wasn't meant as a criticism or to humiliate anyone. Discrete/discreet is a common mistake. But if a lot of people send out virtually the same letter with the same mistakes in it, it becomes obvious that this is a concerted campaign. That takes away the personal feel and detracts from the impact.

I don't normally point out people's spelling or punctuation mistakes.

Incidentally, if this is in Skindles to keep it below the radar, why is the identical post in full view on the WFA site? (I'm not a member there any more and I could see it.)

I wish you every success and I will try to write to my MP.

Gwyn

[MelPack]

Gwyn

I honestly did not take your comments personally.

I realised that no offence was intended and certainly none has been taken.

On your last point, a number of people have emailed me about the same. I am dropping Les a PM now.

Mel

[ianw]

Yes, we need to make this campaign as effective as possible and that is all that matters.

I personalised my email a bit but it was firmly based on the excellent information given by Mel.

I will also be mentioning the BL 15 to people I speak to at Fromelles in 2 weeks time.

I hope we can build up a head of steam on this one.

[eviltaxman]

I've moved this thread, on request, to allow a little more exposure (you know what I mean!!!)

[spof]

Hi Mel

My email has been sent as well.

Fingers crossed.

Glen

[trenchtrotter]

FYI my MP who I e mailed was Lorely Burt Lib Dem.

TT