A final dignity has been accorded to two more Diggers killed during World War I after they were each given a named grave.
Nigh on 100 years later, Second Lieutenant Duncan McKenzie (38th Battalion) and Private Roy Martin (30th Battalion) have been formally identified.
According to the Department of Defence, Second Lieutenant McKenzie (from Kerang in Victoria) died on October 12, 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres as his battalion fought to capture German positions near Passchendaele, Belgium.
Private Roy Martin (from Cobar in NSW) was among the 1900 Australians who died during the Battle of Fromelles on July 19-20, 1916.
His body was recovered by German forces and was among 250 Commonwealth soldiers that were exhumed from an unmarked mass grave at Pheasant Wood in 2009.
He was subsequently reburied as an “Unknown Australian Soldier” at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery in 2010.
FINAL DIGNITY
Chief of the Australian Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart says identification of the soldiers highlights their enduring resolve to honour their war dead and give them dignity.
“It is a privilege to announce on Anzac Day that we now know the final resting place of Second Lieutenant McKenzie and Private Martin,” Lieutenant General Stuart says.
“The formal identification of these two men, a century after their deaths, reflects our ongoing responsibility to those who served and sacrificed for our nation.
“Time does not diminish our obligation to remember their service and to honour them.”
He says the Diggers’ formal identification provides long‑awaited reassurance and clarity for their families who have had to live for generations without knowing where they lay.
The identifications were carried out involving the soldiers’ families, Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Commemorations team, and historical research organisations Fallen Diggers and Fromelles Association of Australia.
Anyone who has relatives who died serving with the Army and have no known grave are encouraged to register with the Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties team.
OTHER WW1 NEWS: Kiwis help to rebury exposed remains
