Fromelles: The Final Chapters in Aussie Readers

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Mar 11, 2014 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: aussie-authors, non-fiction, borrowed-from-library, 2013-release, anzac

4.5★s

The Battle of Fromelles in northern France, July 1916 was a disaster from start to finish, but the end result was that there were hundreds of dead Australian soldiers whose whereabouts were unknown; their families at home in Australia had no answers and grieved for many years. With the diligence and perseverance of a man named Lambis Englezos, the discovery was made in 2008, almost one hundred years later, of unmarked mass graves in a place called Pheasant Wood near Fromelles.

Tim Lycett, a 4.5★s

The Battle of Fromelles in northern France, July 1916 was a disaster from start to finish, but the end result was that there were hundreds of dead Australian soldiers whose whereabouts were unknown; their families at home in Australia had no answers and grieved for many years. With the diligence and perseverance of a man named Lambis Englezos, the discovery was made in 2008, almost one hundred years later, of unmarked mass graves in a place called Pheasant Wood near Fromelles.

Tim Lycett, a police officer in Victoria with a keen interest in the history of the First World War, and Sandra Playle, a genealogist for over thirty years from Western Australia, joined forces and worked at identifying the relatives of the listed missing men in the hope that one day DNA could be used to identify their remains – claiming their identities, reconnecting them with their families and giving them the honour and dignity to finally rest in peace was of paramount importance to these devoted volunteers.

The hours, days, weeks and even years that went into the searches with some relatives being found reasonably easily and others seemingly never able to be found; the incredible and dogged determination of people who just wouldn’t give up, fighting every inch of the way for the rights of the long lost diggers of Australia to be finally found; this emotional, inspiring and extraordinary story was one which had a profound effect on all who were involved. But finally, after ninety-four years the lost soldiers were resting in peace. Finally their families could honour the memories of those loved ones.

pre-war innocence being replaced with post-war trauma

A truly incredible, heart-wrenching, emotional and inspirational tale of determination and devotion for a cause governments preferred to forget – the “ordinary, everyday people” who are even now still working to identify the last, as yet unidentified soldiers.

FOR HONOUR
FOR COURAGE
FOR REMEMBRANCE

Highly recommended. (Thanks Julie for your recommendation to me)
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Mar 12, 2014 Kim Marie marked it as to-read

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