One man's mystery leads to the graves of the forgotten

[diddyriddick]

A WORLD War I mystery that reaches a milestone this Monday in a cemetery in northern France started in Melbourne with a man named John Charles Bowden....

One man's mystery leads to the graves of the forgotten

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

WOW! That is amazing! What a find. Thank you for sharing Diddyriddick.

 

[vikingBerserker]

That really is so cool. Great post!

 

[Gnomey]

Amazing find! Thanks for sharing.

 

[syscom3]

Excellent find!

 

[timshatz]

That sort of thing probably happens more often than we think of. With 10 Million dead in 4 years, there's got to be a millions of unknown graves out there.

 

[Wildcat]

 

[BombTaxi]

Many will simply never be found - hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth troops have been missing ever since the Somme (Frommelles was part of that campaign). Many thousands more, like those in the Verdun Ossuary, will never be identified. It's sad to think these brave men will never have a personal memorial

 

[Milosh]

Two of the 3 of my great uncles killed in WW1 have no known grave. All 3 were brothers. One was a boy soldier and 2 died less than 2 weeks apart at Vimy.

 

[Maestro]

That sort of thing probably happens more often than we think of. With 10 Million dead in 4 years, there's got to be a millions of unknown graves out there.

Yep. And (according to the documentary "For King And Country" with Norm Christie) about 70% of known WWI graves are of unidentified soldiers, being listed simply as "A soldier of the Great War".

By the way, with the new scientific developments with DNA, has anyone ever thought about opening those "unidentified" coffins and test the bodies in them ?

 

[RabidAlien]

Welcome home, boys.

 

[BombTaxi]

Yep. And (according to the documentary "For King And Country" with Norm Christie) about 70% of known WWI graves are of unidentified soldiers, being listed simply as "A soldier of the Great War".

By the way, with the new scientific developments with DNA, has anyone ever thought about opening those "unidentified" coffins and test the bodies in them ?

I think the barrier is cost. I would personally love to see that done and to give all of these men a proper memorial. But the time and expense would be huge. And there would still, tragically, be many whose remains were never recovered or who were lost at sea, whose final resting place will never be known with complete certainty.

 

[Lucky13]

Finally, they're coming home!

 

[Wildcat]

Here's the latest news from Fromelles -

Fromelles prepares to remember fallen Australians
By Rachel Brown in Fromelles

Updated 10 hours 36 minutes ago


Thousands of Australians have descended on the small town to farewell their loved ones. (ABC News: Tim Leslie)


The bodies of 250 Australian and British soldiers were recovered from a mass grave near the French town in 2007.

Thousands of Australians have descended on the small town to farewell their loved ones at a memorial ceremony which will get underway from 8:00pm AEST.

Families say they always knew missing soldiers were buried near Fromelles, but it was not until a soldier's good-luck charm was dug up in Pheasant Wood a couple of years ago that the mass grave was discovered.

The reinterment of the soldiers found at Pheasant Wood began in January, and today the last soldier will be buried again alongside his former comrades.

Ninety-six of the soldiers have been identified through DNA testing, and their inscribed tombstones will be unveiled today. For the others, their families have until 2014 to submit DNA samples.

Fromelles hopes its new military cemetery will be a popular pilgrimage destination, like Gallipoli and Villers Bretonneux.

The town's mayor Hubert Huchette says the town holds a special place in its heart for Australia.

"In 1916, the Australian soldiers were on the frontline," he said.

"In 2010, Australians, French people, British people, the young ones as well as the older ones, are gathered together on the frontline to honour them."

Fromelles prepares to remember fallen Australians - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[ccheese]

Good post....

Charles

 

[Oggie2620]

This is was really good. Am going to have to go back and find out some more now!
Dee