WWI war dead reburied in special service
30th January 2010
The remains of 250 World War I soldiers, who were killed in the 1916 Battle of Fromelles have now been recovered. They will be reburied with full military honours at a new cemetery close to the site in northern France.

It is important to give the soldiers a proper burial. Work to recover the British and Australian soldiers buried there by German forces, began in 2008. The battle, on 19 July 1916, was the first major one on the Western Front involving British and Australian troops. On the evening of 19th July 1916, near the village of Fromelles, Australian and British infantry from two divisions attacked a 4,000-yard section of the German frontline centred on a notorious strong point called the Sugar Loaf. Advancing over unfavourable ground, in clear view of resolute and expectant defenders, the attackers suffered terrible casualties in a matter of minutes. The action turned into a catastrophe. The remains in the graves, which lie some 2 km behind the German frontline, are those removed by the Germans from their lines in the aftermath of the battle.   

Heavy losses - In total, the 61st British Division suffered losses of 1,547 personnel, who were either killed, wounded, taken prisoner or missing. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 similar losses. The excavation was carried out by Oxford Archaeology. DNA samples were taken from each soldier and specialists in the UK have attempted to extract DNA strands to help with the identification process.

Following a four month archaeological operation in northern France, the remains, will be buried with full honours. Every soldier recovered, will be reburied with an unnamed headstone in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

If the soldiers can be identified their relatives will be able to add a personalised inscription on the headstone at a later date. Putting the right name to the right body will be a painstaking process.

When the first chipped and battle-scarred bones were excavated from a muddy field in northern France last May, the story of the forgotten battle of Fromelles began to emerge. The remains of 250 British and Australian soldiers had lain undiscovered for 93 years since falling on the Western Front.

Boots, purses, toothbrushes and other personal artifacts lay amongst the twisted skeletons at Pheasant Wood, offering partial clues about the men's identities. But it is the unique genetic codes within these remains that offer the best chance of putting names to each unknown soldier.

So far, more than 800 UK families who think they may have lost a relative at Fromelles have given DNA samples, but many will be disappointed. The man whose job it is to help identify the soldiers says it is like finding a needle in a haystack, albeit with a very good metal detector.

"The problem with DNA that's been in the ground for 90 years is it degrades in quality and quantity," says molecular geneticist Dr Peter Jones. "If it's a very acidic site, there's no chance of DNA at all because acids attack DNA rapidly. If it's dry and arid like in a desert, you get good DNA. If it's wet, less good."

The remains extracted from Fromelle's muddy burial pits have produced small but workable amounts of DNA, says Dr Jones. The teeth, which preserve well because they are encased in enamel, give by far the best samples.

"The hardest part is finding the right families and getting them to come forward... you can have good DNA profiles, but no family to match it up to." To find out more about how the identification of the fallen read here

Former Lyneham resident linked to Fromelles
Lyneham Village Online has spent the past seven years tracing the history of its ancestors and has discovered that Ernest Coleman who died in the same Battle of Fromelles lived in the Old Bake House Lyneham prior to his enlistment in the First World War.

Initial investigation, concentrated on the fact Ernest Coleman, son of William and Martha Coleman has his surname mispelt on the War Memorial plaque, located in the village library. Ancestry and historical records have confirmed that the incorrectly spelt name is in error and Ernest was one of the heroes killed in action. Currently we are trying to establish whether Ernest Coleman is one of the 250 unidentified soldiers recovered from the mass grave.

Further investigation has highlighted that Ernest Coleman is actually related through marriage to the Lyneham Village web designer Andy Humm. Andy's painstaking research into his own ancestry tree, has identified Ernest Coleman is related on his wife side of the tree, to her sister's husband, his great grand parents. Mr Brian Coleman who lives in Calne, is related to Ernest Coleman. Ernest was Brian's great grandparents, William and Martha (nee Compton) Coleman son.

Ernest Coleman was born during December 1893 in Lyneham, served in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. 1st Bucks Battalion, as a Private No 5354.