The body of the last World War I soldier to be exhumed from a mass grave of Australian and British servicemen found in northern France in 2008 was laid to rest at a new Commonwealth military cemetery at Fromelles yesterday.
Watched by a crowd of several thousand French, English and Australian spectators, the soldier's coffin was taken by horse-drawn wagon from the grave site to the new cemetery, a few hundred metres away. It was accompanied on its journey by British and Australian soldiers and the fifes and drums of the Minden Band of the Queen's Division.
Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Prince Charles also accompanied the cortege to the cemetery, which measures less than a hectare and which contains the remains of 250 soldiers. One hundred and nine have been identified as Australian, with a further 96 soldiers identified by name. Three British soldiers also are identified by name. Relatives of 80 of the 96 identified Australian soldiers were at Fromelles yesterday.
Ms Bryce eloquently described yesterday's dedication as the ''end of a long silence, of generations of silence, of lives extinguished without explanation ... until today''.
''Their dignity has begun to be restored, and they are now never to be forgotten,'' Ms Bryce said.
She also paid tribute to Lambis Englezos, the man many credit with the discovery of the mass grave. It was a generous reference spontaneously applauded by the crowd.
Prince Charles dedicated the cemetery, and paid tribute to ''bravery of the men who fought here. May we ever be mindful of them, and be guided by their example of loyalty and service,'' he said.
Canberra couple Kris and Evelyn Jacobsen were at yesterday's ceremony to commemorate Mr Jacobsen's great uncle, Bert Pratt, who in all likelihood died in the first hours of the battle's start on July 19, 1916. Two men from his platoon witnessed Second Lieutenant Pratt's death, but his remains, like so many thousands of his comrades, were not recovered.
In a remarkable twist of fate, Second Lieutenant Pratt's family was notified in 1925 that he'd been buried at the Pozieres British Cemetery.
That this was about 70km south of Fromelles seems not to have been queried at the time, but army bureaucrats can hardly be blamed for wanting to provide a small measure of comfort to his grieving relatives.
Bert Pratt's mother, Matilda, had been writing letters to army records for years seeking confirmation of his death and details of where he might have been buried. The news of his burial at Pozieres was a consolation, but only a small one. She continued to place ''in memoriam'' notices for her son in the Sydney Morning Herald up until July 19, 1930. Mr Jacobsen later sought to clarify the contradictions in Bert Pratt's burial in a place so distant from Fromelles, and investigations revealed that was a case of mistaken identity. Provision was made for Lieutenant Pratt's name to be added to the list of Australian troops missing in action at VC Corner Cemetery at Fromelles.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
Source: The Canberra Times
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