World War I soldier’s body believed Australian unearthed in France

THE body of a World War I soldier — believed to be Australian, is unearthed by a farmer near one of the nation’s greatest military successes.

THE body of a World War I soldier believed to have been Australian has been unearthed by a farmer in northern France close to one of Australia’s greatest military successes.

Farmer Jerome Barbare from the village of Villers Guislan in Cambrai district reportedly was ploughing his field and unearthed the body and knowing the history of the area, with his farmland being a former frontline in 1917 and 1918, realised it was a soldier.

He said he later found the uniform and buttons that suggested it was a Commonwealth soldier and he believed it to be an Australian. He also found a shoe, a bayonet and other artefacts.

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Authorities in France have informed the Australian Embassy in Paris. A spokeswoman said the Commonwealth War Graves Commission had launched an investigation and could not yet confirm the likely nationality of the soldier.

The Battle of Epehy fought on 18 September 1918 was fought by the British Fourth Army and two Australian divisions in front of the Hindenburg line against a by then demoralised German army.

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General John Monash achieved great success with his 6800 Diggers taking thousands of German prisoners and capturing a huge arsenal of weapons including 300 machine guns and 30 trench mortars. The relatively quick 5km advance while successful saw 265 Australians killed and 1057 wounded.

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The battle was also the scene for the first mutiny by Australian forces with 119 men of the 1st Battalion refusing to launch another attack to help a nearby British unit.

Meanwhile, 20 World War I rifles were found dumped in a skip bin in Fromelles yesterday near the site of another Australian Great War battle. They were retrieved and are to be housed in a museum. Such finds are not uncommon in the area although they are not usually dumped in a bin.

Originally published as World War I soldier’s body believed Australian unearthed in France