Place | Europe: France, Nord Pas de Calais, Nord, Lille, Fromelles, Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery |
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Accession Number | P09291.158 |
Collection type | Photograph |
Object type | Black & white - Digital print |
Maker |
Unknown |
Date made | c 1915 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain |
Studio portrait of 1276 Private (Pte) Gilbert Allen Griffiths, 32nd Battalion. A farm hand from ...
Studio portrait of 1276 Private (Pte) Gilbert Allen Griffiths, 32nd Battalion. A farm hand from Trayning, Western Australia, prior to enlistment, he embarked from Adelaide aboard HMAT Geelong on 18 November 1915 for Suez. His battalion relocated to the Western Front, France, during June 1916. Pte Griffiths was reported missing in action on 20 July 1916 after the Battle of Fromelles. Subsequently, his identity disc was returned from Germany and he was determined to have been killed in action on that date. He was aged 30 years. Initially he had no known grave but in 2008 a burial ground containing the bodies of 250 British and Australian soldiers was located at Pheasant Wood, France. The soldiers died during the Battle of Fromelles on the night of 19-20 July 1916 and were buried by German troops. In 2010 all of the remains were reburied in the newly created Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. At the time of the official dedication of the cemetery on 19 July 2010, ninety-six Australians had been identified through a combination of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA information. Since then other Australians, including Pte Griffiths, have been identified.