This 1917 photo shows a railway embankment that ran parallel to the Hindenburg Line south-east of Bullecourt. Photo: courtesy of Australian War Memorial/DoD
The Defence Department says the remains of four Australian soldiers killed during WWI have been found in northern France almost 108 years later.
The department says the soldiers were unearthed by members of the Unrecovered War Casualties Army unit while working in the field.
The unit was investigating Australian soldiers who were reported missing during the first and second battles of Bullecourt in 1917.
The soldiers are believed to have died together during the second battle in May 1917.
During this period, three divisions of the Australian Imperial Force suffered up to 10,000 casualties (killed, missing, wounded and captured) as they tried to breach the Germans’ Hindenburg Line defences.
Of 3700 Australians who died in the fighting at Bullecourt during April and May 1917, about 2500 have no known grave and are commemorated on the Australian memorial to the missing at Villers-Bretonneux.
Australian Army chief Lieutenant General Simon Stuart paid tribute to the diligence and perseverance of the researchers.
“ … recovering these four Australian soldiers reminds us (that) the search for the missing is tireless and ongoing,” he says.
“We do not forget the service and sacrifice of those who serve our nation.
“The work of forensic specialists, historians and researchers to identify these soldiers is now under way so we can ensure these men are reburied with the dignity and respect they so justly deserve.”
The investigation was conducted in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Commemorations Department and Recovery Unit, the French Direction régionale des Affaires culturelles, and the communities of Riencourt-les-Cagnicourt and Bullecourt.
Some 44,000 Australians died on the Western Front during World War I, of which 17,000 have no known grave.
For information on how families of Australia’s wartime missing can support the Army’s ongoing identification work, visit the website page at: https://www.army.gov.au/our-work/recovering-lost-soldiers/missing-soldier-relatives-database
