Can you help us identify James?

We would like to thank Beth and Les Roberts, Doug Cozens and Geoffrey Cuckson for their efforts in James’ DNA search and their contributions to this story.

James Alfred Cozens was the youngest of George and Susan Alice (nee Gangell) Cozens five children:

George’s father had come from Wiltshire, England and his mother was from Tasmania. Susan’s father was born in Tasmania. James’ parents were married in 1885. James was born in May 1897 in Horsham, northwest Victoria. He attended the Berringa State School, where his father was working as a gold miner from around 1905 to 1912.

In 1913 they had moved to Richmond, an inner Melbourne suburb. After he completed his studies, James became a pastry cook.

James felt the Call to War, but as he was 18, he needed parental approval, which was readily given.

He was assigned to A Company 29th Battalion, which had just been raised at Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria on 10 August 1915.  James had settled in with his new mates and, being 5’10” (very tall for the time), they gave him the nickname “Long-un”.

After a short period of military training, the 29th left Australia on 10 November 1915 headed for Egypt aboard HMAT A11 Ascanius. Before departing, the soldiers had been on parade in Melbourne in front of a good crowd and were reviewed by the Minister for Defence, H.F. Pearce who said:

After a month’s voyage, James arrived in Suez, Egypt. Their training and defence of the Suez Canal continued until mid-June with postings at Ismailia, Tel el Kebir, Ferry Post and Moascar. The troops were reviewed by the Prince of Wales while in Tel el Kebir.

The call to the Western front came and on 16 June, the 29th boarded the troop ship Tunisian in Alexandria, headed to Marseilles, arriving there on the 23rd. They then were on a train to Hazebrouck then to Steenbeque and by the 26th were encamped in Morbecque, about 30 km from Fleurbaix. The Aussies were well received by the French. In a letter home, James Lang (858), 29th Battalion from Glengarry, Victoria, wrote:

On 1 July the 29th moved back to Hazebrouck. Gas masks were included in their training for the possible use of “lachrymatory shells” – tear gas. Training was tough and rugged. One day included a march of 16 miles carrying a 75 lb. kit, which only the youngest and fittest could complete. On the 9th July they were moved to Erquingham, just outside of Fleurbaix and on the 10th they got their first experience in the trenches with the “men all in good spirits”.

Source AWM4 23/46/12 29th Infantry Battalion July 1916 page 3

They were back at their billets in Fleurbaix four days later. A gas alarm was sounded on the 15th, but there was no effect on the troops in Fleurbaix.

The 29th’s role was to be a ‘fourth’ battalion on the left flank of the attack. With the 30th they were to provide support for the attacking 31st and 32nd Battalions by digging trenches, carrying supplies/ammunition and to be called in as reserves if needed for the fighting. The original attack was planned for the 17th, but bad weather caused it to be postponed.

On the 19th July the 29th were in the rear trenches, ready for the attack. The 32nd’s charge over the parapet began at 5.53 PM and the 31st’s at 5.58 PM. There were machine guns emplacements to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land. The initial assaults were successful and by 6.30 PM the Aussies were in control of the German’s 1st line system, which was described as “practically a ditch with from 1 to 2 feet of mud and slush at the bottom”

Source AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 11

By 8.00 PM, James’ A Company and D Company began to carry bombs and supplies to the front trenches. The Australians’ left flank had also come under heavy bombardment with high explosives and shrapnel. Return bombardment support was provided and the 32nd was told “the trenches were to be held at all costs”.

Source AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 12

At 10.00 PM, additional support was being requested and C and D Companies joined in. Unfortunately, they found that a number of the grenades they were carrying had no fuses. The Germans counterattacked and at 2.00 AM James’ A Company was drawn directly into the fighting. B and C Companies were also engaged, continuing to carry supplies and providing cover for soldiers who were retiring from the battle. However, “After a struggle in No-Man’s Land, the Germans were content to stop at their own trench.”

Source AWM4 23/46/12, 29th Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 7

Fighting continued through the night. At 4.00 AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank, bombing and advancing into the communications trench. Given the Australian advances that had been made earlier, portions of the rearward trench had been left almost empty, which then enabled the Germans to be in a position to surround the advanced soldiers. Based on Red Cross witness statements, it is likely that James was killed during their retreat.

Private F.J. BRYANT (183) added:

Ultimately, for a Battalion in ’reserve’, 66 soldiers of the 29th were killed in action or died of wounds from the battle and 37 of them were unable to be identified.

With all the chaos from the battle, it took until the end of August for James’ family to be notified that he was missing in action, but that was all the information that the Army had available. Following searches for witnesses, prisoner of war details, etc, on 18 April 1917 James was formally declared as having been killed in action on 19 July 1916 (though his witness statements would suggest it was the morning of the 20th). The Germans did recover James’ body after the battle - he was on a ‘German Death List’ dated 4 November 1916.

His ID disc was returned to the family in late 1917. Curiously, there is a handwritten record in his file of being ‘buried at Fleurbaix’, with a generic map reference, but this is also in many other missing soldiers’ files.

James was awarded the 1914-15 Star Medal, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and a Memorial Plaque and a Memorial Scroll. James is commemorated at V.C. Corner (Panel No 1), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France.

When the mass grave at Pheasant Wood was discovered, given James’ position in the battle and knowing his body was recovered by the Germans, he was identified as being a candidate to have been buried in the grave. Family member DNA was then needed to find out and the search to find them was on. The family in Western Victoria knew little of James, as his branch of the family moved to Melbourne from Horsham before WWI and contact was lost.  It was only when news of Pheasant Wood became more widely known that the present-day family discovered his existence and they embraced the task of finding James.

DNA matching is complicated by the need to have male and female donors that have a direct male to male to male and female to female to female ties. Both Doug Cozens and Beth Roberts and her husband Les took up the challenge to find the donors. James was a first cousin of Doug and Beth’s father Read Cozens, making Doug and Beth first cousins, once removed. James’ brother David had a son, Arthur. To the best of Arthur’s recollection, little was spoken of James after his death, but he did have a photo of James in uniform and his Memorial Plaque.

Even at 90 years old in 2011, he was more than pleased to have donated DNA. James’ aunt had a daughter and Beth and Les were able to follow that female line to a current descendant and obtain a DNA sample.  Beth’s brother Douglas also gave a sample.   Unfortunately, there was no match from these samples, much to everyone’s disappointment. The family however, remains hopeful that one day James will be identified and receive the named headstone which he so richly deserves.

When Melbourne amateur historian Lambis Englezos led investigations and advocacy to find and recover many ‘Lost Diggers of Fromelles’ with his friends, he could not have imagined how many diverse and far-reaching connections his actions would lead to. As well as James, Private William Joseph Cuckson (3032), 54th Battalion from Sydney was also on the German Death List:

Geoffrey’s grandfather’s brother, William Joseph Cuckson, is one of the initial 75 soldiers at Pheasant Wood who were identified in 2010. Unfortunately, James Cozens remains unidentified.”

Tying the Cozens and Cuckson families together, Geoffrey Cuckson said he has had an unbelievable and somewhat emotional journey to find and identify his great uncle William Cuckson and to attend the centenary service at Fromelles in July 2016.

His one burning wish now is that he can once more stand beside his friend Doug Cozens and celebrate the dedication of a newly named headstone for another brave lad from that conflict – #210 Private James Alfred Cozens.

Beth’s family provided the content for an entry on James in a book written by the Horsham Historical Society on local involvement in World War 1.

100th Anniversary of Fromelles commemoration at Pheasant Wood:

To date (2024), 22 of the 37 unidentified soldiers from the 29th Battalion have been found to be at the Pheasant Wood burial site and 70 out of the 250 soldiers from the grave remain unidentified. There may still be hope to find James. We are seeking further family contacts.

Lest we forget.