Waiting for reply on lost uncle

TWEED Heads West resident Warren Keats holding a photo of his uncle, Private Prosper Goodwin Keats.

BLAINEY WOODHAM

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Fromelles excavation site

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WARREN Keats is hopeful his uncle will get the burial he deserves.

The Tweed Heads West resident is waiting to hear from the Australian Army if his uncle, Private Prosper Goodwin Keats, had been identified amongst the 250 Australian and British World War I soldiers, who died in the Battle for Fromelles in France on July 20, 1916.

The first of the dead were reinterred at a new military cemetery last weekend after lying in an unmarked mass grave for 94 years.

Mr Keats, 80, supplied a sample of his DNA late last year in the hopes it could be used to find his missing relative.

“I’m still hopeful they will find his remains,” Mr Keats said. “We definitely know he died there but it would be disappointing if they couldn’t find out how.

“The family would love to know if they found any relics of him.”

The Battle of Fromelles, on July 19-20, 1916, was the first battle fought by the Australians on the Western Front and the first battle of the Fifth Division.

According to the Australian Defence Department, 5533 Australian soldiers died in a single day.

Private Keats, a 19-year-old posing as 21 at the time of his death, was a member of the 54th Battalion.

Mr Keats said regardless of the outcome of the DNA testing, his family will be represented by his daughter, Gaylyn, at the commemoration of the Fromelles Military Cemetery on July 19, the 94th anniversary of the commencement of the Battle for Fromelles.

Last weekend’s re-interment promoted calls from the Australian Army for relatives to provide DNA samples to be matched against those taken from the remains.

Defence Personnel Minister Greg Combet was hopeful DNA, and other information will help identify some of the men.

“While identification of the remains is an extremely complex process I remain hopeful that we will be able to identify a number of those that we have found,” he said.

The Federal Government has also asked the nation to reflect on the sacrifice made by the soldiers.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said they would not be forgotten.

“The discovery of these men ... provides new generations of Australians with an opportunity to honour their service,” he said.