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  The Forgotten Battle November 11, 2007 Reporter :Ray Martin  Watch videoReporter: Ray Martin Fromelle was our first battle after Gallipoli, our first battle on the western front —- and it was a complete disaster. A British commander ordered the attack as a diversion for a bigger one down the road at Pozieres. It turned out to be the worst day in Australian history: 5533 casualties in one night of carnage. 2000 diggers died in the slaughter and another 3 and a half thousand were maimed and wounded. The shame of this battle meant it was erased from our history. At the big war memorials in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney there is no mention of Fromelle. The mass slaughter was covered up straight away by the British, and the Australian Generals agreed to it …Years later when state Memorials were erected Fromelle was forgotten. Recently, historians have turned their attention to the battle and what they have discovered will mean Fromelle will no longer be the forgotten. A mass grave of over 150 Australian soldiers has been located , the biggest mass grave of Australians ever located. The army is now deciding whether to exhume the bodies and conduct DNA studies to confirm identification. The forgotten battle of Fromelle is our special Remberance Day story. |
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