Pit may be grave for 160 Diggers
Mark Day
June 09, 2007


GROUND-PENETRATING radar will be used to investigate the suspected grave of more than 160 Australian soldiers near the Anzacs' bloodiest World War I battlefield of Fromelles, in northern France.

The suspected grave site has been identified after a scientific survey confirmed the presence of a series of pits.

Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Billson yesterday described the evidence as "compelling". He said it was possible more than 160 Australians had been buried by the Germans after the Fromelles battle on July 19, 1916. Mr Billson said ground-penetrating radar could provide additional evidence as to the presence of soldiers' remains.

Military historian Colonel Graham Fleeton (ret), one of the leaders of The Australian's Our Other Anzac Day tour of the Western Front next April, said the Fromelles battle represented the blooding of Australian troops after the Gallipoli campaign of 1915.

"It was a tragedy of astonishing scale, not only because of the 5533 casualties we took in a single night - more than the entire Boer, Korea and Vietnam wars put together - but also because the whole battle was utterly unnecessary," he said.

Additional reporting: AAP