First of Fromelles' Missing Diggers to be Identified

Some Wonderful news from Maj-Gen Mike O’Brien, the man responsible for the Pheasant Wood exhumation and reburials: the first wave of those Missing Diggers will be identified by Anzac Day.

The DNA testing of the Pheasant Wood remains has been far more successful than at first thought. In fact, I understand that all bar six of the remains have now yielded viable DNA.

Considering that around 70 percent of the Missing Diggers have had a descendant register with the Army and provide a DNA sample, this gives great hope for a substantial proportion of the Missing to be finally identified and buried under a marked headstone.

It’s a long-awaited vindication of the constant claims by Lambis Englezos and his supporters that, not only could the Missing Diggers (and Tommies) be found, but the majority of them could also be identified.

What a moving and memorable ceremony awaits those who make the journey to Fromelles on 19^th July for the official commemoration of the new cemetery and the unveiling of the named headstones.

The Missing Diggers’ families have waited 94 years for this.



A Response to Neil McDonald

Neil McDonald wrote an opinion piece on Fromelles in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 5. Neil is, of course, entitled to his view that recovery of the Fromelles Missing “sanitises what was always a brutal and bloody business” and that it’s a pity that the battlefield burials on the Kokoda Track “could not have been identified and marked, then left to tell their own story”.

I think Neil is misguided in both cases. There are a number of practical reasons not to leave the Kokoda dead in their original graves: first, they were on private land; second, who would care for them (the admirable Commonwealth War Graves Commission could not be expected to constantly maintain graves scattered over hundreds of square kilometres); third how would loved ones, descendants and others pay their respects by visiting the isolated graves.

In the case of the Missing soldiers of Fromelles, to my knowledge the only descendant to see them as they were found was Tim Whitford, whose great great uncle Harry Willis lies amongst them. Tim is a former Australian Army tank commander with a deep understanding of the Australian Digger and his heritage.

Before he saw the Fromelles Missing in the pits, Tim was open-minded about leaving them where they lay. But not after he saw them:

“And that’s what changed things for me. If they were all laid out carefully, buried in groundsheets it may have been different but some of those men didn’t have that privilege. Some had been laid there with the utmost care but others had been thrown in there like yesterday’s fish and chips.

“In Pits 4 and 5 it is a scene of abject horror. Men have been thrown in on top of each other without any care or reverence. There are men lying in grotesque positions … if we leave them like that it is a travesty.”

The real point is that if we left the Fromelles Missing as they lay, we would not be able to identify any of them. Their descendants would, to all practical purposes, be in the same position they were when they received that chilling telegram telling them that their son, brother, husband, father, uncle or loved one was “missing presumed dead”.

By disinterring them, taking DNA samples and trying to identify them by matching with their descendants we can help ease 94 years of pain and silent suffering.

Like most of the loved ones and descendants of those lost in war, Tim Whitford’s family has waited for almost a century to find out the final resting place of their loved one. Tim’s great grandmother never recovered from the loss of her brother and asked after him on her deathbed. Like hundreds of others, Tim’s family seeks closure by having somewhere to visit and mourn.

We certainly won’t be able to identify all of the Missing Diggers of Fromelles. But I believe it’s our sacred duty to do everything we can to identify as many as possible. They were individuals – not numbers – and their mates would expect nothing less from us.

(I tried many times to post this response to Neil's article on the SMH site without success.)

Where's Lambis?

In the snow-blanketed killing fields of Fromelles they finally laid the first of The Missing to rest yesterday, almost 94 years after they fell. They did it with reverence and respect and ceremony. Only one thing was missing: the man who made it all possible.

While the politicians and the bureaucrats basked in the reflected glory of the moment in France’s chilled beauty, Lambis Englezos, the man who spent six years solving the mystery of the Missing soldiers of Fromelles, watched the ceremony on television at his home in Melbourne.

Without Lambis Englezos and his team of supporters the Fromelles Missing would still be languishing, jumbled together in the mass grave at Pheasant Wood, where they were buried by the Germans in July of 1916.

Without Lambis the bureaucrats would still be dumbly clinging to their claims that the experts could not have missed a grave that big and that as “an amateur”, “a crank”, he could not possibly be better informed than they were.

Without Lambis the thousands of loved ones of the Missing would still have no idea what happened to them.

Yet, somehow he has been cut out of the picture.

What a disgrace that, after denying his claims every step of the way, the bureaucrats could not find the grace and generosity of spirit to invite Lambis to be present to witness the culmination of all his tireless work

Time for a Fair Go for Fuzzy Wuzzy descendants

The people of Oro Province, at the northern end of the Kokoda Track in PNG, have been waiting for more than two years for their government to help rebuild the roads, bridges, schools and villages destroyed by Cyclone Guba in November 2007.

Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands lost their homes when Cyclone Guba hit the province. Around 60 bridges and almost 100 schools were lost in the disaster.

Two years on, and just a handful of temporary bridges have been put in place. Thousands still live under tarpaulins in temporary shelters and kids are being taught in bush lean-tos. Much of the province is still cut off from the main thoroughfare for food and basic supplies – the road to Kokoda from the port of Oro Bay and the town of Popondetta.

Just when you think things couldn’t get worse, two things happen: first, the region suffers more floods during last month’s torrential rain; and second, it now seems the government has lost the funds it committed for the province’s rebuilding.

Yes, that’s right, apparently the Kina 60 million earmarked for the restoration of the province’s infrastructure has disappeared in Port Moresby!

In the latest issue of his PNG Attitude newsletter, respected commentator, Keith Jackson, writes:

“Over K60 million allocated by the PNG Government for relief and restoration efforts after Cyclone Guba devastated Oro Province in 2007 has ‘gone missing’. Provincial authorities briefed Public Services Minister Peter O’Neill of the situation but were not able to say where the money had gone.”

The Province’s administrator, Owen Awaita, was quoted as saying that K11 million had been allocated for restoration work during the state of emergency declared following the disaster and another K50 million had been “parked” at the Treasury Department in Port Moresby. Unbelievably, apparently all this money has disappeared.

In addition, a further K600,000 committed to land owners in Girua village, north east of Kokoda, allegedly had not been paid, prompting the villagers to ban authorities from their land until the payment is made.

The time has come for the PNG to show some political will and some transparency. Any qualified accountant could trace the missing funds within days.

While this disgraceful abrogation of responsibility continues, the people of Oro – many of whom are the descendants of the beloved Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels – are relying on NGOs like the Kokoda Track Foundation and the Anglican Church for food and water. They are being denied justice and access to basic resources. Their children are being denied a future.

The PNG Government cannot proclaim its success in securing massive gas projects while turning a blind eye to massive fraud and ignoring the plight of so many of its people.

It's Never Too Late

If police officers and international footballers are starting to look like kids to you, you know you’ve reached that ‘certain age’. But, instead of stressing about getting there, I reckon we should celebrate making it. 

It’s a great age: an age when you have more time to consider things and when you can spend more time doing the things you love, rather than the things you have to do.  It’s an age when you even feel like you’re starting to gain some wisdom - or at least some perspective.

Sometimes we have to ask ourselves some of life’s really tough questions. Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? How can I be the best that I can? What percentage of my potential do I normally achieve? And what is the main internal obstacle preventing me from achieving more?

For most of us the answer to that last question is fear.  Fear of failure.  Fear of pushing outside the boundaries we draw around ourselves. When we realise that most of our boundaries are illusions, we can set ourselves free.

I’m convinced that it’s never too late to be what you might have been! It’s never too late to push through your boundaries … to open your mind … to make your own decisions … to do something great.

In case you think it might be too late for you, consider a few examples: 

Consider Ray’s case. He was 52, diabetic, arthritic and had gall bladder and thyroid problems. He’d dropped out of high school, worked as a chalkie in a broker’s firm, sold paper cups, even tried his hand as a jazz musician.  He was selling milkshake machines when he met two blokes named Mac and Dick who owned a restaurant.  Ray saw the potential and followed his dream. Ray Krok bought the restaurant from the McDonald brothers and gave birth to the Golden Arches.  It wasn’t too late.

It was never too late for Nelson Mandela either.   He began his real career on the world stage at 72.  And what an impact he has had and is still having!

Winston Churchill took over as Prime Minister of Britain at the age of 65 and guided his nation through to victory in WWII at the age of 71. Coincidentally, both John Winston Howard and Edward Gough Whitlam were both 56 when they became Prime Minister.

My great friend, Stan Bisset, is about to turn 97.  He’s one of the heroes of the Kokoda campaign and our oldest living Wallaby rugby international.  Some circulation problems recently left him with a leg sore that wouldn’t heal. Did he lie back and accept it?  No, he did what he always has done: thought positive.  He checked things out on the net (yes, at 96!) and saw that some of the top footballers used hyperbaric chambers to improve blood flow for healing injuries.  So he organised a couple of weeks’ treatment in the chamber and solved his problem.  Now he’s working on a new exercise regime.  It’s never too late.

The one thing which has changed dramatically over our lifetimes is the pace of change. A very wise man once wrote: “Some people don’t like change.  Change couldn’t care less!”

It’s time to pause and reflect.  Whatever our age, whatever our stage in life, it’s never too late to take control of our destinies, to rethink our priorities, to rekindle our passions and to chase our dreams … and, most importantly, to have fun doing it!  Perhaps that bulging brain, Edward de Bono, summed it up best: “You can analyse the past but you have to design the future.”

It’s never too late to design your future!

(An article Patrick wrote for All About You, the magazine of the Queensland AMA)



Tiny Fromelles Museum Hits The Big Time

Pheasant Wood Search Recognised

The internationally acclaimed London Science Museum has announced that it will mount a special exposition next year featuring the Battle of Fromelles and the search at Pheasant Wood for the Australian and British dead buried by the Germans after the battle.

In doing so the giant London organization has recognized the excellence of its tiny Fromelles counterpart by seeking permission to borrow some artefacts from the battle. (Some artefacts from the battlefield at the Fromelles Museum at right)

The small but superb Fromelles Musee de la Guerre, run by a local organisation called the Association pour le Souvenir de la Bataille de Fromelles, will provide a number of objects found on the battlefield.

The driving force behind the Fromelles Museum, Martial Delebarre, confirmed he had responded to the request suggesting four objects: a spoon from a British soldier; a Rising Sun Australian insignia; an imperial tobacco pipe; and a compass belonging to a British officer.

“I have sent photos of these objects to London. I am now waiting for their response. The objects will be lentprepared for 5 years, the length of the exposition,” he said.

M Delabarre added that the London Science Museum planned to dedicate one of its galleries to the search of Pheasant Wood, focusing on the identification, using DNA, of the remains of the exhumed Australian and British soldiers and Australian soldiers.

The Pheasant Wood resulted from a six-year quest by Australian amateur historian Lambis Englezos and his team of supporters, in Australia and overseas.

The Imperial War Museum is apparently also considering an exhibition on Fromelles. The hope is that these two expositions will coincide for several weeks around the time of the official commemoration of the new Fromelles village cemetery, on the 19th July next year. This cemetery will receive the exhumed remains of the Australian and British soldiers recently exhumed from the mass graves where they were buried by the Germans in the days following the battle on July 19 1916.

The news is a wonderful recognition of the work of those who have for so long fought to recover the Fromelles Missing and it’s a fitting honour for the Missing themselves and for their families, who have waited for almost a century for resolution.

Let’s hope it prompts the authorities to redouble their efforts to use all available means, especially DNA, to identify as many of the Missing as possible before next year’s re-interment so they can be buried under their names.

A Small Step for Diggers' Families ... A Long Way to Go

Last week we saw some long overdue good news for the widows of our military personnel. But we have a long way to go to give them what they deserve: financial security allowing them to educate their children and to live with dignity.

Last week, Minister for Defence Personnel, Greg Combet, announced increases of between 14 and 21% for members of the Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme – all backdated to July 1 2007.

Widows of personnel who are killed on duty can choose a lump sum payment or a pension or a combination of both. The new lump sum for widows of privates has been lifted by 14%, up $72,000 to $579,000. A sergeant’s widow’s payout will also rise 14% from $672,000 to $765,000 and a captain’s similarly from $714,660 to $814,400.

A private’s widow’s pension will now be $37,487 (or $720 a week), up 21%. The sergeant’s equivalent will rise by 21% to $49,500 ($952 a week) and a captain’s also up 14% to $52,727 ($1013 a week).

But, bizarrely, the war widow’s pension is still indexed at a lower rate than a general welfare pension. Surely, this situation is absurd and insulting and must be changed as soon as possible.

The least our nation should be giving these bereaved families is financial security. The Defence Association believes that the families of those killed on active duty should receive a home and be paid the equivalent of the dead soldier’s salary until he would have retired.

Is this too much to ask from a nation that asked the soldier to put his life at risk for us?

Fromelles Mystery Continiues

It seems possible that there may be even more Australian Diggers missing from the Battle of Fromelles than first thought in the mass grave at Pheasant Wood where the Germans buried British and Australian dead after the battle on July 19 1916.

Lambis Englezos at Rue Petillon Cemetery, near Fromelles

Lambis Englezos and his team have German and Red Cross records to suggest around 190 Australians were buried at Pheasant Wood. But Lambis now believes it’s possible that number may rise and the number of British soldiers buried there may be fewer than first thought.

That supposition would have some battlefield logic to support it because the British dead would have to have been carried some kilometres from where they died on the far side of the Sugar Loaf salient to Pheasant Wood.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has been keeping a very tight lid on information from the archaeological dig to exhume the remains found at Pheasant Wood.

They have confirmed that a total of 250 sets of remains have been recovered (around 50 in each of five main pits) and that they have now been anthropologically examined (to detect their nationality). These now lie in storage, recorded according to grave number, layer number in each grave where they were found and the other remains with which each was buried.  The CWGC has also said that the ‘vast majority’ of remains found in the first three burial pits were Australian. 

They have made no pronouncement of the nationality of the two remaining pits, each with around 50 remains, or the sixth pit, which had just six remains in it. So we don't yet know the total number of Australians found in the mass grave.

As Lambis suggests, it’s possible that more than 200 of the remains at Pheasant Wood are Australian.

Let’s hope the CWGC gives us some details of the full nationality breakdown of the remains soon. And let’s hope the Australian Government expedites the gathering of DNA material from the Australian families of the Fromelles missing so we can move closer to identification and individual burials.

The Fromelles Pen Stands Poised

In a wonderful vindication of the adage, the pen has outlived the sword at Pheasant Wood, site of the mass grave of the missing soldiers of Fromelles, and is poised to write the final chapter of this sad but fascinating story.

This remarkably preserved fountain pen was found with the remains of one of the missing men amongst the carnage at Pheasant Wood. What a powerful symbol it is. This gentle object is redolent of the personal stories of these long-forgotten souls: it hints at their stories yet to be told.

It was the pen that finally relocated the Fromelles missing: the relentless research of Lambis Englezos and his supporters and the books and articles calling for the authorities to examine his claims that finally convinced them to act.

It will be the pen recording the marvels of modern science that will finally allow us to identify the missing soldiers and give them the dignity of a named, individual grave.

But concern is growing at the tardiness by the authorities in taking DNA samples from the relatives of the missing to assist in the identification of the remains.  Many of these relatives are elderly. It would be an unforgivable missed opportunity if they were to leave us before they have given their DNA.

The remains have now been recovered. Why the delay in proceeding to the next step in the identification process?

Kokoda Demands Respect

This week’s tragic deaths on the Kokoda Track remind us that we must treat the Track with the respect it demands.  For the vast majority of us, it’s the toughest physical challenge we will ever face and we must prepare for it accordingly.

The Track crosses some of the harshest terrain in the world, set in a tropical pressure cooker.  It’s more accurately described as a climb rather than a walk.  It’ll push your cardio-vascular endurance to previously unexplored limits.  It’ll give your knees and quads the ultimate examination: many sections are over slopes so steep you can put your hand out and touch the ground in front of you. And then there are the descents, which produce what the Diggers called ‘laughing knees’ – trembles from the unaccustomed repetition of clambering down, lurching from rock, to tree root to crevice. Someone used a GPS to calculate that these relentless up-and-downs along the Track are the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.

Perhaps the numbers of those who have made the crossing in recent years have created the impression that anyone can do it.  If so, rest assured, it’s a false impression.

To understand the terrain, imagine rainforest jungle like Australia’s Daintree, then lay it thickly over PNG’s mighty Owen Stanley mountain range, which climbs twice as high as Mount Kosciusko and is made up of a wicked series of shark-toothed ridgelines over scores of raging white-water rivers and creeks spilling from the heights.

There are no roads, just a tiny, meandering, often treacherous, native walking path that winds its way through the maze.  In some places it’s only as wide as a human body – a temporary passageway forced by machete through the dense foliage.  Elsewhere, it opens to a majestic jungle cathedral topped by a thick tree canopy 50 metres high.  But mostly it’s a series of tenuous footholds up the towering hillsides, along knife-edged ridges, down the sheer gullies and across the streams, many of which can only be crossed by inching over a fallen tree trunk.

Even those who are fit for other sports must train specifically for the Track’s unique demands: the long hours of walking (sometimes ten hours a day); the enervating humidity; the dramatic loss of fluids through sweating, requiring constant hydration; the strains on joints and muscles; and the effects of a relentless sun.

Ultimately, each trekker must take responsibility for his or her fitness for the challenge. There is danger in the journey. The quest is great but the rewards are equally substantial.

Walking the Kokoda Track is a life-changing experience – an immense physical, emotional and spiritual challenge. It’s also a fascinating journey of personal exploration and one of the most deeply satisfying achievements most of us will ever claim.