New war graves at Fromelles (Pheasant Woods) France
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:50 pm
I visited the most recent Australian War Grave in Europe recently. It was the day after they had placed names on another 9 graves. I went to a talk a couple of years ago where Lambis Englezos and Tim Whitford spoke about their work and what they had found. Lambis had devoted over 10 years of his life to locating the mass graves and Tim became involved because he had a great uncle (Harry Willis aged 19) that had never been found. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fromelles)
At the start of the excavations they discovered something that they believed belonged to Harry. This proved to be the case and they were able to positively identify Harry from DNA supplied by Tim's grandmother. Tim had told his grand mother many years before that he planned on joining the army and she was horrified. This is when he first heard the detailed story of his great uncle. Tim was able to tell his grand mother that they had found Harry and that he was going to get a proper burial. This was less than a month before she passed away. Tim is now the curator(?) of the Shrine of Rememberance in Melbourne.
At the start of the excavations they discovered something that they believed belonged to Harry. This proved to be the case and they were able to positively identify Harry from DNA supplied by Tim's grandmother. Tim had told his grand mother many years before that he planned on joining the army and she was horrified. This is when he first heard the detailed story of his great uncle. Tim was able to tell his grand mother that they had found Harry and that he was going to get a proper burial. This was less than a month before she passed away. Tim is now the curator(?) of the Shrine of Rememberance in Melbourne.