Another five Australian soldiers killed in the World War I Battle of Fromelles have been identified.
The diggers' remains are among those of 250 Australian and British soldiers recovered from a mass grave at Pheasant Wood in France.
The five take to 124 the total number of Australians identified at the cemetery.
Some 87 Australians and two British soldiers remain unidentified while another 37 have been interred as "A soldier of the Great War - Known unto God".
Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon says the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will erect new headstones with details of the identified soldiers, ahead of a July 19 dedication during the annual commemoration of the Battle of Fromelles.
The latest breakthroughs were made possible by the large number of extended family members, both in Australia and overseas, who provided DNA samples.
"We currently have more than 3000 family member details in our records but we still need more," Mr Snowdon said on Thursday.
Fromelles was the first major action involving Australian troops in France in World War I.
It was fought over July 19 and 20 in 1916 and resulted in more than 5500 Australian dead and wounded. Many of the fallen were never found.
The battle is regarded by some as the worst 24 hours in Australian military history.
In 2009 a mass grave was located in Pheasant Wood on the site where German soldiers had buried Australian and British dead.
All the bodies have now been reburied in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.
Mr Snowdon said the joint Australian Army and UK Ministry of Defence project to identify the dead would conclude in 2014, although the Australian Army's unrecovered war casualties team would continue to process any new information.
"We remain hopeful that we will be able to identify more soldiers in coming years," he said.
Thursday 11 April 2013
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/five-more-fromelles-wwi-dead-identified/story-fn3dxiwe-1226618213790
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