The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Senator the Hon. Michael Ronaldson recently dedicated the headstones of 20 Australian soldiers on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Australian Government.
“The identities of the 20 soldiers who were honoured at today’s ceremony were announced in May 2014 and are among 144 Australians who have been identified to date as part of the joint Fromelles Project,” Senator Ronaldson said “The Fromelles Project has provided closure and recognition for the families of these Australian soldiers who never came home.”
Senator Ronaldson explained that in 2009, 250 Australian and British World War I servicemen were recovered from burial pits near the French village of Fromelles by the joint Australian Army and United Kingdom Ministry of Defence project team. The recovered remains were reburied in the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery in 2010.
The Assistant Minister for Defence, Stuart Robert MP, acknowledged the work of the Australian and British defence organisations involved in the identification of the identities of the men now buried in the Pheasant Wood cemetery.
“Today’s ceremony marked the conclusion of the joint Australian and British Fromelles Project,” Mr Robert said. “Importantly, however, the Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties team will continue to identify as many of the remaining 67 unidentified Australians as possible.”

The Battle of Fromelles is widely recognised as one of the worst days in Australia’s military history and was the first major battle fought by the Australian Imperial Force in France. The 5th Australian Division suffered over 5,500 casualties, both wounded and killed many of the soldiers who died remained unaccounted for almost a century after the battle.