Hi Hellbent1,

I imagine that might well be the desire of the relatives. I have no idea what the policy of the Australian Government might be, Aaron could probably clarify that point.

From what I read in the two articles he posted my feeling is that a decision has already been made and that some sort of dig will take place.

In all the major conflicts Britain has always buried her soldiers in the country where they died, that was probably due to logistics in the first instance and later due to the ever increasing numbers that died particularly in WW1 and WW2.

It's a difficult question to answer, particullarly as so many soldiers form so many countires are still listed as missing.

I know it has been Ameican policy to bring the boys back home and in many ways I agree with that, exactly what might happen if they find any remains I can't really say.

I think the problem here is once they start digging, where do they stop. If they mark out an area, find some remians, at what point do they stop the dig? 5/6 yards away could be more bodies. With so many still listed as missing they could dig the whole of the western front and still not find all those who never returned home.

Al

Hi Harm,

Too true, cost will be a big issue as far as DNA goes and even if they can extract DNA of sufficient quality to make a match possible they still have to try and locate someone to match it too.

After all this time that's not impossible but it's also not very practical given the potential number of bodies involved and the fact that many of the relatives are now also deceased, married with different names etc, etc.

I'm still am inclined to go with the idea of marking the site once it has been correctly identified. Leave them in peace with their mates.

Al