Cemetery Dedication and 250th Burial Marks Culmination of Two-Year Project at Fromelles
Ninety-four years to the day since thousands of men died at the Battle of Fromelles, the last of the 250 British and Australian soldiers recently discovered in mass graves was laid to rest in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) new purpose-built Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, writes Martin Mace.
The dedication of the new cemetery on Monday, 19 July 2010, began when the coffin of the final soldier to be buried was carried out of Pheasant Wood, site of the original German mass burial pits, on a First World War Mark X General Service Wagon pulled by horses from the Kings’ Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
The procession journeyed through the village of Fromelles, at which point it was joined by HRH The Prince of Wales and Her Excellency the Governor-General of Australia Quentin Bryce, along with General Sir David Richards, Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, Australian Chief of Army, and soldiers from the British and Australian armies. The French government was represented by Monsieur Hubert Falco, the Minister of State for Defence and Veterans.
The President of the CWGC, HRH The Duke of Kent, welcomed everyone to the event. In his speech he said: “It is right and fitting that these men – comrades, Allies and even two brothers – lie side by side in this beautiful cemetery – the first new war cemetery to be built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in fifty years. They are lost no longer, and are here at last at peace.”
The service was attended by hundreds of people from those British and Australian families whose relatives were killed in the fighting at Fromelles. A number took part in the service, reading extracts from letters and diaries from those they lost. Reverend Mitchell Collins from Fife, grandson of Private Mitchell Collins of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who was killed in the Battle of Fromelles, said: “My father grew up never having met his father, so the Battle of Fromelles will leave an indelible mark on our family. Although we have not yet been able to identify Private Collins as one of the soldiers buried here, I am hoping that over the next few years new evidence will come to light which will help us to do so. The ceremony today was very moving for my family, and a fitting tribute to those who fell in the battle.”
The coffin of the unidentified soldier was borne by British and Australian servicemen, and a joint Firing Party fired three shots. This was followed by a one minute silence after which a number of wreaths were laid.
The event marked the culmination of a two year project, funded by the British and Australian governments, in collaboration with the CWGC, to give the 250 soldiers the dignity of an individual burial – the honour that would have been afforded to them had they been found during the post-First World War battlefield searches.
