My grandfather's older brother (Rifleman Charles Durrant, 2/Rifle Brigade) was killed on 9th May 1915 at Hill 60 on the Ypres Salient, or at least, that's what his family were told. With no reason to question the facts, Charlie remained "missing at Hill 60" for another eighty-five years, but a chance glimpse, in May 2000, of a memorial card to another missing 2/Rifle Brigade man highlighted the error of our ways. We had discovered Fromelles and the Battle of Aubers Ridge.
The research moved quite quickly from the men of 2/Rifle Brigade to all those serving with the 7th and 8th Divisions and then onto Fromelles 1916, the 61st (South Midland) Division and the 5th Division, Australian Imperial Force. The similarities between the 1915 battle and the 1916 attack (fought over the same ground and with the same devastating results) were enough to convince me that further and more in-depth research was required. Prior to the discovery of the mass graves at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles had been known only for being the place where the AIF had experienced its first, and disastrous, taste of action on the Western Front.
In February 2008 (and in an attempt to help raise the British profile in Fromelles), I became the British Historian and Representative for the Association Fromelles-Weppes Terre de Mémoire - 14/18, with Lambis Englezos becoming my Australian counterpart. In June 2008, following GUARD's success in proving the existence of the mass graves, the research went into overdrive. By July, I had an accurate list of missing British and Australian men from the 1916 action and in the August I received a telephone call from Peter Barton who had heard of my work and who wished to share his German research with me. Between us, we would attempt to put names to the men who would be recovered from Pheasant Wood.
Peter's first visit to the Red Cross Archives in Geneva in December 2008 netted something in the region of 160 lists of names, lists which included the names of some of our missing Australian and British men. Peter made a first sweep of the lists before sending them to me for further scrutiny. We eventually extracted the names of 185 Australian and 46 British men, men whose names had appeared on German lists of English dead.
Our research was made available to teams in both Australia and Britain (via the Australian Army and the British Ministry of Defence) and the search began for the families of these men as the first of the 250 British and Australian men were recovered from Pheasant Wood. Meetings at Whitehall followed in order to discuss and resolve omissions from the British Working List and in January this year, I was at Fromelles to see the first of "my boys" buried with full military honours.
I could so easily say that my Fromelles-related research began with Uncle Charlie and ended on Monday, 19 July 2010 at the new Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery, but hundreds of my men from both 1915 and 1916 (British and Australian) remain "missing" with no known grave and the search for them continues. Who knows? There may yet be more mass graves to find ............
Victoria Burbidge, British Historian and Representative for the Association Fromelles-Weppes Terre de Mémoire - 14/18
Photographs (supplied by Victoria):
Above is Rfn. Charles Durrant (2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade), my grandfather's big brother. Killed in action at Fromelles on 9 May 1915, he remains one of the 1,300 plus men from that day's action (out of more than 1,500 killed in action) to have no known grave.
Private Robert “Bertie” Scott (32nd Battalion, AIF), killed in action 20th July 1916. Bertie had a “known grave” at Rue Petillon Military Cemetery for nearly 94 years. I added his name on the Australian Working List as I felt that there was more than enough doubt regarding the identity of the man buried at Rue Petillon. Bertie’s remains were recovered from Pheasant Wood, which was a great relief to me.
The third image is of me, Martial Delebarre and Lambis Englezos, taken after one of my 9th May services. Martial is the President of the Fromelles-Weppes - Terre de Mémoire 14-18 and has worked tirelessly for the relatives of the Australian men.
Taken on 9 May 2009, at the reception and exhibition which I arrange each anniversary in Fromelles, following a battlefield service. In this image, Peter Barton has just presented framed copies of German maps to Hubert Huchette (the Mayor of Fromelles) and David Symons (then CWGC Director for France). Lord Faulkner is also present as the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary War Heritage Group.
Editor's footnote: this article, generously supplied by Victoria, came about as a result of a reminder by Martin Willoughby (WFA Dorset and S Wilts Branch Chairman) that Victoria, a Branch member, was also at the Fromelles ceremony. Thank you to both.
