Image Gallery: September 2007
Rehearsal for Belgium re-interment ceremony
28 September 2007
Soldiers from 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment (51FNQR) are travelling to Belgium to re-inter the remains of five Australian World War I soldiers that were discovered in 2006 during a pipeline excavation near Westhoek, Belgium.
The 51FNQR soldiers, drawn from elements of the unit scattered throughout Queensland, have concentrated at Porton Barracks in Cairns to rehearse the procedures.
The soldiers will also participate in the activities celebrating the 90th anniversary of the 3rd Battle of Ypres in 1917 and perform the Menin Gate Guard on 5 October 07.
Two WW1soldiers, Sergeant George Calder, of the 51st Battalion, and Private John Hunter, of the 49th Infantry Battalion, were identified through DNA analysis. Relatives of these men will be at the re-interment.
The soldiers will be laid to rest with full military honours on 4 October 2007 in the Buttes New British Cemetary at Polygon Wood - the scene of savage fighting which claimed more than 6000 Australian casualties over two days in September 1917.
| 20070927adf8262658_040 Soldiers from the 51st Far North Queensland Regiment are rehearsing the re-interment of five WWI diggers in Belgium next week. (Date taken: 27 September 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20070927adf8262658_067 (L-R) Sergeant Rick Leeman, Sergeant Louis Fauid, Sergeant Ian Wanchap, Australian Army Chaplain (Major) Jim Pearson, Major Andrew Marsh, Sergeant Wayne Roe, Sergeant Stephen Fauid, Andrew Couchman, all of 51st Far North Queensland Regiment. Major Pearson sprinkles soil over a practice coffin during a rehearsal in Cairns for the re-interment of five WWI diggers in Belgium. (Date taken: 27 September 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20070927adf8262658_149 Firing party rehearsal for the re-interment of fallen WWI soldiers in Belgium, conducted by Australian Army soldiers from the 51st Far North Queensland Regiment at the Porton Barracks in Cairns. The party will fire blank volleys during the ceremony at the New British Cemetary in Belgium. (Date taken: 27 September 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20070927adf8262658_172 Australian Army Chaplain (Major) Jim Pearson from the 51st Far North Queensland Regiment sprinkles soil over a coffin during re-interment rehearsals in Cairns before a battalion contingent departs for Belgium. Major Pearson will conduct the re-interment ceremony of five WWI soldiers at the New British Cemetary. (Date taken: 27 September 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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