I’ve just been looking at photos on Facebook of the ceremony held at Fromelles today in France and wish I could re-post some here but they’re not mine, of course. These are public photos I found so hope it’s ok to use them!
Yesterday was the 99th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles, the inspiration for my last 
book, Ronan’s Echo. Another 20 soldiers have been identified since last year’s update and the total number is now 144 men identified and named out of the 250 bodies recovered in 2009. All the bodies were buried in 2009/10 and as they are identified, the names are inscribed on the relevant headstones.
The man whose photo sat on my desk for two and half years has still not been identified, Corporal Herbert Evans Jones, from Middle Park, Victoria. He may be one of the remaining 106 unidentified bodies, or one of the tens of thousands of dead soldiers still unrecovered all along the Western Front.
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of a terrible and pointless battle. And sadly it won’t be the last such waste of life and cause of misery.