Six more Fromelles soldiers named

The army has identified another six WWI Australian soldiers whose remains were found in mass graves near the battlefield of Fromelles.

Six more Australian soldiers killed in the World War I battle of Fromelles have been identified through their DNA.

That brings to 150 the number named following the 2009 discovery of the remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers in mass graves near the Fromelles battlefield in France.

The newly-identified soldiers are Second Lieutenant James Benson, Private Justin Hercules Breguet, Private Clifton Sydney Brindal, Private Sidney Broom, Private William Burke and Private Robert Thomas Maudsley.

They were among almost 2000 Australians killed in the disastrous battle of Fromelles, fought on July 19, 1916.

Australia's first major action on the Western Front produced total casualties of 5533, including 1917 dead and 470 taken prisoner.

It remains the worst 24 hours of Australian military history.

Identification of the soldiers was facilitated by the Army's Unrecovered War Casualties Fromelles project team which has collected DNA samples from 1000 descendants of those who died in this battle.

"The assistance of the community helps us to commemorate our soldiers in the most respectful way, while also connecting current generations of Australians with their military heritage," Deputy Chief of Army Major General Rick Burr said in a statement.

More are still to be identified.

The Unrecovered War Casualties Unit is still collecting information about WWI soldiers at Fromelles, whose date of death is listed between July 19-20, 1916, and whose grave is listed as unknown.

* Members of the public who have a relative that fits this profile are invited to register with the Australian Fromelles Project at army.uwc@defence.gov.au.


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Source: AAP



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