Welcome to the official website of the
Families and Friends of the First AIF
Latest opinion
Chris Bryett, President of Recovering Overseas Australia’s Missing Inc (ROAM) and FFFAIF Member, who was one of the key people involved in lobbying for investigation of the burial pits at Pheasant Wood, near Fromelles, has issued a detailed response to the issues raised in the article Reburial project in crisis by Fairfax Press journalist Paolo Totaro. Read his detailed response in the RECENT NEWS item Fromelles Claims Response.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd has reaffirmed his Government’s commitment to making certain that the exhumation, identification and reinterment of the Australian soldiers buried by the Germans after the Battle of Fromelles in France is being handled properly and has given assurances that precautions are being taken to ensure the Diggers’ remains are being treated with respect.
Photo: Members of the Oxford Archaeology team at work at Pheasant Wood. [OA - Tim Loveless]
Mr Rudd stated that: We’ll now make doubly certain of that in the case of this particular sensitive matter. Every Australian who has lost their life in service of our country must be treated, should be treated, with absolute respect. For more details read RECENT NEWS Item: PM Reaffirms Fromelles.
Fromelles Project Update
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has added a project update as at 7 July to its remembering Fromelles website indicating that almost 100 soldiers remains have been recovered and almost all have personal items that have helped identify whether they fought with the British or Australian Forces and is linked to the updated RECENT NEWS Item: PM Reaffirms Fromelles.
The Battle of Fromelles commenced on 19 July 1916 and commemoration services will be held in Fromelles, Sydney and Melbourne to mark the 93rd anniversary of the battle. Anyone wanting to pay their respects to the Australian and British soldiers who participated in this battle are invited to attend one of these services. Details are in RECENT NEWS items Fromelles in France and Fromelles in Australia.
NEW POSTING
Major General Mike O’Brien, the senior Australian Army officer responsible for the Fromelles Project, will launch the much anticipated updated edition of Robin Corfield’s book Don’t forget me, cobber at The Shrine, Melbourne on 19 July 2009 at 2:15pm. The launch will follow the 1:30pm commemorative service for The Battle of Fromelles. The publishers are offering members of the Families and Friends of the First AIF and visitors to this www.fffaif.org.au website a special discount on exclusive signed copies of Don’t forget me, cobber – click here for details.
Children at schools in France, Australia and United Kingdom have also been commemorating the service and sacrifice of the Australian and British soldiers who fought in the Battle of Fromelles through their artwork. Display panels have been added to the perimeter fencing around the new Commonwealth War Graves Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. See additional photographs of the children’s artwork by clicking here.
The annual John Laffin Memorial Lecture (JLML) will be held on Sunday, 12 July 2009 in Sydney and will focus on aspects of the Gallipoli campaign. The meeting is open to Members and their guests. Visitors are welcome to come along and hear our guest speakers. For more details on the 2009 JLML read RECENT NEWS Item: Memorial Lecture.
Scroll down for more news:
Congratulations to
Lambis Englezos AM
The 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours List published today (8 June) proclaims that Lambis Englezos has been appointed a Member of The Order of Australia, within the General Division, for ‘Service to the community through research and advocacy roles relating to Australian soldiers of the Great War buried in Fromelles, France’.
Click HERE for an outline of some Lambis’ work that has contributed to him being awarded this honour.
Lambis Englezos is presently in Fromelles and has sent a message to FFFAIF members and his supporters. Read Lambis’ message in RECENT NEWS item: Message from Lambis.
*****
The FFFAIF website will be closely following the activities at Pheasant Wood and Fromelles and our RECENT NEWS Items will be updated when information and photographs become available.
*****
Did you know that all the RECENT NEWS items which have been posted on the website are still available for you to read? They are stored under Past News and can be accessed by either:
Using the Search Field located on the top right of web page (near the Member’s Area tab). Simply enter the topic you are searching for in the search field at the top of the screen and click enter.
OR
By using the PAST NEWS drop down menu, located below the FFFAIF Photo strip, on the right hand side of this page.
*****
Australians in The Great War in JULY
1 July 1916 First day of the Battle of the Somme
7 July 1918 Battle of Hamel, France
10 July 1911 Formation of Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
14 July 1918 Fighting at Abu Tellul, Palestine by Australian Light Horse against German Asia Corps
19 July 1916 Battle of Fromelles
23 July 1916 Battle of Pozieres begins
31 July 1914 Labor leader Andrew Fisher declares Australians will defend Britain ‘to our last man and our last shilling’.
*****
Privacy Policy:
You may view the website for private purposes only. Some of the images are owned by third parties and are protected by their copyright. They are reproduced on this site with permission. In cases where it has been difficult to determine the original owner copyright may have unknowingly been infringed – if this is the case we invite the owners to contact the webmaster.
General terms and conditions of use:
This website is provided for your personal and non-commercial use only. Material from the site may be used for your own non-commercial use when the source of the material is acknowledged correctly. Any other use of materials from this site is not permitted without permission of the FFFAIF Inc.
Links to Other Sites:
The links to other www addresses are provided as a guide by the FFFAIF Inc. The FFFAIF Inc does not endorse or verify the information provided by these sites.
To find out more about the FFFAIF simply click on the tabs at the top of each page and then explore each of the sub-pages for more details.
*****
Disclaimer
The website is under periodical review and changes may occur to the content without notice.
*****
All website information (i.e. the images, graphics, text etc) on our website are all copyright © Families and Friends of the First AIF Incorporated (FFFAIF Inc.) or its individual Members.
The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood by German soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles on 19/20 July 1916 dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and applauds the joint decision to DNA test the remains at exhumation and use every reasonable method to attempt identification of each soldier.
