News

A Dungannon man, now living in France, has assisted in the reburial of soldiers killed during the First World War.

The bodies of 250 British and Australian soldiers, who perished in the battle of Fromelles in France, were discovered in a communal grave close to the battle site.

Horticulturist David Richardson, 47, who works for the Commonwealth Graves Committee, project managed the archaeological dig and find of the soldiers, which began in May 2008. He also oversaw the process of identifying as many of the soldiers as possible before their reburial in separate, marked graves.

The list of the 250 soldiers was laid to rest last week in the purpose-built cemetery in the village of Fromelles. This dedication service marked the formal opening of the cemetery and attracted a number of dignities including Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke of Kent.

David, a former Dungannon Royal School pupil, said, "I have been involved in the excavation identification and reburial of 250 Australian and British soldiers. So far, 96 of the 250 bodies have been identified by name and found as belonging to the Australian Army. This involved obtaining DNA from families for comparison or finding ID tags buried alongside the soldiers".

"We identified a further 111 soldiers as belonging to the Australian Army and three from the British Army. This was made possible through the recovery of the items including buckles and badges found with the soldiers or on the uniforms they were wearing. Unfortunately, without DNA from living family members, we cannot establish their names."

More than 5,000 Australian and 1,500 Britons were killed or captured by the Germans during the 1916 encounter.

David said: "I have met some families of the soldiers and it is remarkable how important this process is to them. It gives them a real sense of closure. They bring koala bears for the graves, or flowers. Some takes leaves from the graves home with them.

"We will be carrying on the identification process for another four years."

David also had the pleasure of meeting Prince Charles at the cemetery opening service and he said: "It was great meeting the Prince. He had already expressed his interest through a letter in the work we were doing."

David left Dungannon after his "A" Levels to take up study in the University of Bath, where he completed a Degree in Horticulture. His mother, Vera Richardson stills lives in Dungannon and David returns home frequently to help his mother with her gardening.

Source: Tyrone Courier
Date: 28th July 2010