Re-interment Of WWI Remains Found In Belgium

Re-interment Of WWI Remains Found In Belgium

The Australian Army, in consultation with the Belgium authorities, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the Office of Australian War Graves, will re-inter the remains of five Australian WWI soldiers found near Westhoek, Belgium.

The remains were discovered during a pipeline excavation near what was once a WWI temporary cemetery. It is believed these remains were missed by post-war battlefield clearance teams responsible for re-interring remains in Commonwealth war cemeteries.

The Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC (Retd); the Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lieutenant General K.J. Gillespie, AO, DSC, CSM; representatives from the Belgium and New Zealand Governments; and members from the Royal Family, Great Britain, will be in attendance.

A contingent of Australian Defence Force members will be traveling to Belgium in early October 2007 to perform ceremonial activities relating to the 3rd Battle of Ypres, the re-interment of the remains of five Australian soldiers killed in the Great War and a ceremonial guard at Menin Gate.

The ceremonial guard is drawn from members of the 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment. This Battalion was selected for the task due to the lineage from the unit the five soldiers belonged to during the Great War to the modern day unit.

ENDS

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