What is the Process?

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commenced construction of the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery on 17 May 2009. The cemetery is being constructed from the bottom-up, to best cope with constraints of the location and weather. By late-December 2009 the cemetery will be approximately 70% complete and ready for military burials.

Once all but one set of remains have been buried it will take a further three months to complete the cemetery. This includes building the level of the ground up another 500mm, constructing and incorporating headstones, building pathways and creating the finished lawns and gardens.

Re-interment of each set of remains with full military honours will commence on Saturday 30 January 2010. This day will be conducted as a special event to facilitate media coverage as the site is not open to the public until July 2010. Following this event, re-interments will be conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout February. During these days, more than twenty soldiers will be buried per day. Days between re-interments will be used by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to prepare the cemetery for the following day's proceedings.

British and Australian soldiers will bury each set of remains with full military honours. Military chaplains and musicians will support this activity. All remains will be buried in simple wooden coffins as 'unknown' - as identities of those buried will not be known at the time of burial. The order of service for each day will include a blessing, burial, the Last Post and Reveille, the Ode and the firing of volleys.

Each grave will be given a temporary marker until the Joint Identification Board has completed its deliberations in March 2010. These markers contain the same discrete numbering system used in the identification process. Once formal identification has been attempted, the temporary markers will be replaced with headstones. Headstones will be etched with known individual's details or designated as a soldier of the Australian (or British Army) or as an unknown soldier of the Great War.