Fromelles, France- The remains of a World War I soldier left in a mass grave for more than 90 years were moved by four-horse cart to a new cemetery for reburial with full honors in July. The ceremony was attended by Britain's Prince Charles, Australian Governor General Quentin Bryce and multiple relatives of the fallen intered with the Unknown.
The unknown soldier's new headstone in northern France bears a simple inscription: "A soldier of the Great War. Known unto God." His nationality is unclear, but he was either Australian or British.
German machine-guns and artillery left more than 5,500 Australians and 1,500 British dead, wounded or missing in under 24 hours at the 1916 Battle of Fromelles, the first Australian combat operation on the western front.
Many of the dead were buried by the Germans in a mass grave, which was obscured by vegetation over time and discovered by an Australian amateur historian in 2008.
After more than two years of exhumation and identification work by the archaeologists, 249 of the bodies were reburied under marble gravestones laid out in a V shape in a new cemetery in the French town of Fromelles.
A coffin containing the remains of the last soldier was laid in a new grave during the solemn ceremony, which honored the unknown as well as his fallen brothers in arms.
-Compiled from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Press Services.
May the Lord of Hosts watch over their eternal rest, God bless them all.
Thought some of you might find this interesting.
The unknown soldier's new headstone in northern France bears a simple inscription: "A soldier of the Great War. Known unto God." His nationality is unclear, but he was either Australian or British.
German machine-guns and artillery left more than 5,500 Australians and 1,500 British dead, wounded or missing in under 24 hours at the 1916 Battle of Fromelles, the first Australian combat operation on the western front.
Many of the dead were buried by the Germans in a mass grave, which was obscured by vegetation over time and discovered by an Australian amateur historian in 2008.
After more than two years of exhumation and identification work by the archaeologists, 249 of the bodies were reburied under marble gravestones laid out in a V shape in a new cemetery in the French town of Fromelles.
A coffin containing the remains of the last soldier was laid in a new grave during the solemn ceremony, which honored the unknown as well as his fallen brothers in arms.
-Compiled from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Press Services.
May the Lord of Hosts watch over their eternal rest, God bless them all.
Thought some of you might find this interesting.
