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IN
THE NEWS - P4
(published in Army News, 5.04.2007)
Hours of studying 90-year-old maps, war diaries and records in the Australian War Memorial may pay off for historian Ric Pelvin in his quest to identify the remains of five diggers uncovered in Belgium last year.
The remains were discovered during pipeline excavation works, near the hamlet of Westhoek.
They were found in an area which was a temporary burial ground for Australian soldiers killed in a series of battles in 1917, known collectively as the Third Battle of Ypres.
The Army History Unit (AHU) was tasked with identifying the remains and much of the work fell to Mr Pelvin, who is a consultant historian to the unit.
"It was never going to be an easy task, not least of all because dog tags in the First World War were made of cardboard, so they rarely survive," Mr Pelvin said.
Some of the men's uniforms and badges, however, were reasonably well preserved, including a circular colour patch, indicating that at least one of the men was a member of the 12th or 13th Brigade, which had eight battalions between them.
Through studying records of actions fought in the area and the Australian War Memorial's burial records - sometimes pencilled entries in notebooks - Mr Pelvin was able to come up with a list of men who may have been buried near Westhoek, but whose remains had not been moved to a permanent cemetery after the war.
"After the war, the Belgians needed to rebuild their infrastructure as a priority, and it seems the course of a road through the temporary cemetery was altered, and covered the remains of the men who were rediscovered last year," he said.
His research has identified a list of seven possible matches for the five sets of remains.
AHU is now awaiting the results of a scientific investigation by the Belgian authorities, to see if further insights can be gained into physical characteristics, such as the men's height, and evidence of wounds and other injuries.
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Hours of studying 90-year-old maps, war diaries and records in the Australian War Memorial may pay off for historian Ric Pelvin in his quest to identify the remains of five diggers uncovered in Belgium last year.
The remains were discovered during pipeline excavation works, near the hamlet of Westhoek.
They were found in an area which was a temporary burial ground for Australian soldiers killed in a series of battles in 1917, known collectively as the Third Battle of Ypres.
The Army History Unit (AHU) was tasked with identifying the remains and much of the work fell to Mr Pelvin, who is a consultant historian to the unit.
 Mystery revealed: Ric Pelvin has been busy searching through old maps and war diaries in an attempt to ifentify the remains of six WWI diggers. |
Some of the men's uniforms and badges, however, were reasonably well preserved, including a circular colour patch, indicating that at least one of the men was a member of the 12th or 13th Brigade, which had eight battalions between them.
Through studying records of actions fought in the area and the Australian War Memorial's burial records - sometimes pencilled entries in notebooks - Mr Pelvin was able to come up with a list of men who may have been buried near Westhoek, but whose remains had not been moved to a permanent cemetery after the war.
"After the war, the Belgians needed to rebuild their infrastructure as a priority, and it seems the course of a road through the temporary cemetery was altered, and covered the remains of the men who were rediscovered last year," he said.
His research has identified a list of seven possible matches for the five sets of remains.
AHU is now awaiting the results of a scientific investigation by the Belgian authorities, to see if further insights can be gained into physical characteristics, such as the men's height, and evidence of wounds and other injuries.
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LOST & FOUND ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Of the eight Australian soldiers believed to have been buried near the hamlet of Westhoek in Belgium but who were not later exhumed for reinterment, seven have been identified. They are:
- 2Lt LJ Corrigan, 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion;
- Pte JA Gibbens, 29th Australian Infantry Battalion;
- Pte J Hunter, 49th Australian Infantry Battalion;
- Sgt CN McArthur, 48th Australian Infantry Battalion;
- Sgt G Calder, 51st Australian Infantry Battalion;
- Pte GR Storey, 51st Australian Infantry Battalion; and
- Pte W Williams, 51st Australian Infantry Battalion.
Any descendents of these soldiers who would like more information about the investigation to identify the remains found last year are encouraged to contact Roger Lee, Head of the Army History Unit on (02) 6266 2204 or via email.
 Up-gunned: WO2 Stan Albert, AHU, presents Nick Fletcher, Australian War Memorial, with some of the items included in the four trunk loads of weaponry captured in Iraq and Afghanistan |
Soviet RPGs, Kalashnikovs and night vision sights are among a cache of weapons captured in Iraq and Afghanistan now housed in the Australian War Memorial.
Captured by Australian forces, the four trunks of weapons were delivered to the memorial by Army History Unit (AHU) Museums Liaison Officer Officer WO2 Stan Albert.
Last year WO2 Albert was part of a team deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in search of weapons, artefacts and documents of interest.
"Our job is to get historical information on each weapon, such as where it was captured and the circumstances, and get serial numbers so that they can be identified," WO2 Albert said.
A key task of the AHU is the collection, preservation and presentation of the Army's heritage.
While the War Memorial takes priority for artefacts collected, the AHU also looks for items for the 17 regional and corps museums it is for around Australia. The AHU's deployable History Field Team is also involved in identifying vehicles and other large pieces of equipment which will be handed over to museums once the reach the end of their service life.
"It is important that this work's done - even though it might not seem a priority to deployed units at the time - otherwise we'll lose our history," WO2 Albert said.
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