One hundred years ago, on 19 July 1916, in the French village of Fromelles, Australia suffered its worst ever military defeat when a British officer ordered 15,000 of Australia’s best and bravest to go ‘over the top’ and attack the German lines. Eight hours later more than 5500 Diggers lay dead or wounded – the equivalent of all Australian casualties from the Boer, Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Many of those who died disappeared from the official record, their fate remaining unknown for close to a century. In this evocative and enthralling retelling, Patrick Lindsay takes us back to the killing fields of northern France.
Fromelles is also the story of the quest to find the missing Diggers from the WWI battle. Covering the archaeological dig at Pheasant Wood which confirmed, at last, the final resting place of up to 400 missing Diggers and Tommies buried by the Germans after the battle. This discovery was the largest mass grave found since the Second World War. The recovery of the missing Diggers remains and the names of those who have been identified from their DNA, as well as the opening of the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetary are also included.
