Invitation to the ‘Fromelles Family Day’ on Saturday the 17th of August 2024 in the Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney.

The Families and Friends of the First AIF and the Fromelles Association of Australia will jointly present a ‘Fromelles Family Day’ on Saturday the 17th of August 2024 at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney.

This is an invitation to attend the event which will occur in the memorial’s auditorium between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. Entry is via the 137 Liverpool Street entrance to the memorial. ‘Family’ is used in the broadest sense to include descendants, members of the FFFAIF and the Fromelles Association, and members of the public with an interest in Fromelles and the men who fought there in 1916.

Speakers will include Lambis Englezos, Major David Wilson, Jim Munro and Geoffrey Benn. Each speaker will present on various aspects of the Fromelles story, in particular the identification of the ‘Missing’ and the ‘missing’ official battle honour for Fromelles.

Jim Munro, the president of the FFFAIF, and Geoffrey Benn, the president of the Fromelles Association, will have just returned from the 2024 Fromelles commemoration at Pheasant Wood in France. They will jointly host the event and present three of the five talks.

The programme is:

9:45 am: Arrival and Registration. A levy of $10 is levied and will be payable in cash on the day to cover costs.

10:00 am: Welcome and introductions by Jim Munro, president of the FFFAIF.

Talks:

  1. Lambis Englezos will present: Fromelles, the Missing', an update. We are grateful that Lambis will travel from Victoria to be with us.
  2. Jim Munro will then explain how the German wartime information flows from the battlefield to the archives in Munich, Berlin, Geneva and eventually Canberra have been invaluable in Lambis' quest - the German Death Lists (GDL), Toten death vouchers, Nachenlisten (personal effects vouchers) and how they got to Canberra.
  3. Geoffrey Benn will deliver his presentation on how the Fromelles Association of Australia tracks down DNA donors so that the association can then submit them to Unrecovered War Casualties - Army for testing.

12:00 to 1:00 pm: Lunch-break, own arrangements from nearby cafes.

  1. Major David Wilson from Unrecovered War Casualties - Army will give a talk on the steps the URWC-A take to deal with DNA testing, and the Identification Board process leading to new identifications being announced.
  2. Geoffrey Benn then returns to give an account of how the post-war ‘Battles Nomenclature Committee’ failed to categorise the Battle properly, and why the soldiers of Fromelles were never awarded a Battle Honour for Fromelles. This will be based on research he prepared for his recent book.

3:15 pm: Panel Q & A with afternoon tea.

4:00 pm: Thanks and close.

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Space is limited. Entirely new material will be presented by our expert group,of speakers.

This is an event open to descendants of the men who fought at Fromelles, members of the FFFAIF and the Fromelles Association, and to members of the general public with an interest in the battle of Fromelles.

Parking is not available at the memorial. The nearest railway station is Museum. The nearest paid parking is at the Wilsons Car Parking Station in Nithsdale Street, a three-minute walk away.

Dress is smart casual and a $10 fee will be levied and payable on the day to cover costs. Sandwiches may be arranged for lunch TBA.

RSVP and enquiries to the Vice-President of the FFFAIF at:

paul.simadasfffaif@gmail.com

Note: to RSVP from this Facebook post, please cut and paste the email from the comments section below to your email address list and send the response.

before the 10th of August 2024.

Please list names of those attending. Space is limited to sixty attendees.

Your attendance will be most welcome.