Researchers seek families of Kiwi soldiers killed in ‘hushed up’ battle

A group of Australian genealogists are working to locate the families of several New Zealand soldiers who died in a battle described as “the worst 24 hours to date in Australia’s military history”.

Eighteen Kiwis were part of about 1900 killed during the Battle of Fromelles, fought on July 19 and 20, 1916, during World War I when they served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). According to research by the Fromelles Association, the battle was meant to lead German troops away from the Battle of the Somme, which was happening nearby.

However, the attack quickly turned into a massive human sacrifice that ended overnight. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5533 casualties, whilst the 61st British Division suffered 1547.

After the battle, Germans buried the deceased soldiers in mass unmarked graves.

Royce Atkinson, team lead of genealogical research at the Fromelles Association, said the battle was kept quiet.

“The Battle of Fromelles was hushed up because it was a disaster, over half of the division were killed, wounded or captured,” he said. “They fought as hard as they could, they died for their country and in some ways I feel that the battle was just glossed over.”

In 2008, a mass grave was discovered containing the bodies of 250 AIF soldiers. The Unrecovered War Graves Army unit in Canberra, alongside the Fromelles Association of Australia, have since managed to identify 177 of these soldiers through familial DNA. Atkinson has been working to identify these soldiers since they were found, searching records, sorting through newspaper clippings and reading old reports. In some cases when the team finds a DNA match they can contact a living relative and share the soldier’s story.

“We’ve got a chance to identify the boys and give them their right to be named. It’s important for families who lose somebody to have a place of pilgrimage, a grave,” he said.

To coincide with the commemoration of Anzac Day, Atkinson and the genealogical team at the Fromelles Association are sharing the names of the New Zealanders whose families are yet to be identified. Their hope is that they will be able to connect with the soldiers’ family members using DNA so they can tell the story of each soldier’s life. “It’s all about naming our boys, naming our war people,” Atkinson said.

The Fromelles Association of Australia have written about the soldiers they have identified so far. Information on how to contribute DNA or share stories can be found on their website.

❚ The New Zealanders who fought and died in the Battle of Fromelles are Charles Conroy, Clark Maxwell Gray, William Fletcher, Harry Forster, Andrew M Given, Edwin Lawler, William James Lund, Herbert James King, Shrewsbury F Kingsford, Horace Maidment, James L Mason, Beresford Nelson, Henry Oscar Nelson, Albert E Pratt, Arthur C Pybus, Robert Douglas Sloan, James Sexton and Edward Coady.

Men in the 53rd Battalion pictured as they were waiting to attack at Fromelles. Only three of the soldiers shown here came out of the action alive, and they were wounded.

James Lowther Mason is another New Zealand soldier on whom the Fromelles Association is seeking identification on.

A New Zealand soldier whose family is yet to be identified, William Fletcher, left, and his brother Archibald Fletcher.