roel22 Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Just got this mail from the Australian Fromelles Project Group:"A further two Australian soldiers have been identified as being amongst the men of Pheasant Wood.The Minister for Veterans' Affairs announced the result of an extraordinary identification board at 1100 this morning"Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedelmar Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Lt Col Ignatius Bertram Norris 53rd Battalion. 595 Private Harold Charles Pitt 32nd Battalion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 7 July , 2010 Admin Share Posted 7 July , 2010 I just got this from my brother http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07...?section=justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Fascinating that a battalion commander has been identified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MACRAE Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Fascinating that a battalion commander has been identified. Great that they have been identfied and not known unto god. But to those who have not been identfied good that they have been found, and given a decent burial. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFayers Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Thanks for posting Roel, The fact they have now identified nearly half the soldiers known to be Australian is incredible! I wonder how the figure of 96 identifications compares with the number of families / descendents of Fromelles casualties who have been traced for DNA matching? (Apologies if this question has been asked before!) All the best Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(nzef) Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 That is fantastic news - Does this mean that existing headstones will be replaced in time for the ceremony on the 19th? - Are there in fact headstones already there?? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Fascinating that a battalion commander has been identified. The 53rd Bn war diary records simply "Lt Col Norris and Adjt killed during first charge". Good news indeed that two more have been identified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 I would imagine that there are 2 Unknown tombstones that will be changed in due course. Would it be appropriate to indicate these stones prior to their replacement? Will relatives of these 2 men be able to make the trip at such short notice assuming they are not already coming? Poignant that the Lt Col gallantly fell at the head of his men and that their final resting places will seem him restored to a place of honour literally in their midst. I can't help but think that he would have been delighted with this result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissparrow Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 I picture a smile coming across his face! Great news. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 7 July , 2010 Author Share Posted 7 July , 2010 The 53rd Bn war diary records simply "Lt Col Norris and Adjt killed during first charge". For those interested in the final hours of all the missing at Fromelles: click here... (If only the Germans had such a fabulous website... ) Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickie Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 More excellent news, I have to say I'm so impressed with the successful ID'ing of all the men so far. Superb effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Excellent news, the level of identifications is remarkable. Please view this thread where we are trying to achieve the same success with 15 British soldiers found in 2009. Beaucamps-Ligny 15 (New Thread) Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Don't know if the headstones will be replaced in due course. but I did just find this http://www.army.gov.au/fromelles/docs/graves_vjib1-2a4.pdf on the Aussie Frommelles site, which shows the layout of the cemetery and "type" of each grave (i.e. Unknown, Unknown Aussie, Unknown British, Identified Aussie). It could presumably be cross-referenced with the CWGC info. It hasn't been updated for the latest two though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 The grave lay-out looks perfectly sensible to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 7 July , 2010 Share Posted 7 July , 2010 Actually, since the document was updated on 5 july when the ID board was actually held, the doc may have been updated to reflect the latest IDs. I'll leave it to someone else to count the green rectangles though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 8 July , 2010 Admin Share Posted 8 July , 2010 Does anyone know where they are buried in the new cemetery? Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River97 Posted 9 July , 2010 Share Posted 9 July , 2010 Don't know if the headstones will be replaced in due course. but I did just find this http://www.army.gov.au/fromelles/docs/graves_vjib1-2a4.pdf on the Aussie Frommelles site, which shows the layout of the cemetery and "type" of each grave (i.e. Unknown, Unknown Aussie, Unknown British, Identified Aussie). It could presumably be cross-referenced with the CWGC info. It hasn't been updated for the latest two though. David, Thanks for the link. I knew the cemetery had room for extension, but not that much. Good on them. To the two newly identified - sleep peacefully, gone and no longer forgotten. Cheers Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypres1418 Posted 9 July , 2010 Share Posted 9 July , 2010 Am so pleased they have been able to identify these men, may they all Rest in Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 10 July , 2010 Admin Share Posted 10 July , 2010 Lt Col Norris being laid to rest late in the afternoon on 1st Feb 2010. RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 12 July , 2010 Share Posted 12 July , 2010 SPOF, How do we know this is the Lt-Col? Have his burial place details been released? Regards Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 12 July , 2010 Share Posted 12 July , 2010 Yes his CWGC record has now been updated http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=721567, FROMELLES (PHEASANT WOOD) MILITARY CEMETERY III. A. 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 14 July , 2010 Admin Share Posted 14 July , 2010 David Thanks for helping out. I've had variable internet access this week so I couldn't reply earlier. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 15 July , 2010 Share Posted 15 July , 2010 David - thanks for the confirmation. Nice to see the CWGC reacting so quickly to the new IDs.Also the cemetery plan has been changed to record the Norris and Pitt graves as those of "Known Australians". Excellent work. Pte Pitt is now recorded as being in IV D 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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