Shoulder title : Pheasant Wood mass grave, Fromelles

Corroded oxidised 'INF' (infantry) shoulder title with two lugs for attachment and a single brass split pin. Fragments of mineralised fabric are accreted to the badge.

'INF' shoulder title found with the remains of an unknown Australian soldier in the Pheasant Wood mass grave at Fromelles.

This indicates the soldier was still wearing his battalion shoulder titles. This may have been in addition to, or instead of, his battalion's colour patch. The change from metal unit shoulder titles to cloth unit colour patches was ordered while the battalions were training in Egypt in March 1915. However it is not uncommon to find men still wearing their shoulder titles into 1916 and even 1917.

Fromelles was the first major battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front. Directed against a strong German position known as the Sugar Loaf salient, the attack was intended primarily as a feint to draw the Germans from the main Somme offensive, then being pursued further to the south. A seven-hour preparatory bombardment deprived the attack of any hope of surprise, and ultimately proved ineffective in subduing the well-entrenched defenders.

When the troops of the 5th Australian and 61st British Divisions attacked at 6pm on 19 July 1916, they suffered heavy losses at the hands of German machine-gunners. Small sections of the German trenches were captured by the 8th and 14th Australian Brigades, but, without flanking support and subjected to fierce counter-attacks, they were forced to withdraw. By 8am on 20 July the battle was over. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties, rendering it incapable of offensive action for many months; the 61st British Division suffered 1,547. German casualties were little more than 1,000. The attack was a complete and costly failure as the Germans realised within a few hours it was merely a feint, and made no impact whatsoever upon the progress of the Somme offensive.

The mass grave was discovered during an archaeological dig in May 2008. The dig revealed conclusive evidence of the bodies of hundreds of Australian and British servicemen. The following year the bodies were recovered and, in 2010, were reburied with full military honours in the newly constructed Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.

Identification of the bodies proved difficult. Many of the objects that would identify them have decayed and disappeared over the last 90 years. DNA has been used to successfully identify of a number of the soldiers, though many may remain unknown.