“The Group consists of Members from both Houses and exists to promote and support the protection, conservation and interpretation of war graves, war memorials and battlefield sites.”

Dedication at Fromelles

19 July 2010: On the 94th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles, members of the Group travel to northern France to attend the dedication of the new CWGC military cemetery at Fromelles (Pheasant Wood)

See video footage of the ceremony from the BBC

Group reconstituted as All-Party War Heritage Group

Lord Faulkner of Worcester has been reinstated as Chairman of the Group.
The first Meeting of the reconstituted Group will be held on Monday 26 July 2010.
A summary of the Group's achievements to date can be found under Successful Campaigns.

First of Fromelles fallen buried

The remains of the first of 250 British and Australian soldiers killed in the 1916 Battle of Fromelles were reburied on Saturday 30 January. Over the course of the next few weeks all the soldiers will be reburied with full military honours at a new cemetery close to the site.

  BBC news report including interview with David Richardson from the CWGC
  CWGC webpages remembering fromelles

WWI archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva

In March 2009 Peter Barton was given access to World War I records at the ICRC headquarters in Geneva to enable him to carry out research into the identities of World War I casualties discovered at Fromelles. He was able to examine records that had lain virtually untouched since 1918, and estimates that there could be 20 million sets of details, carefully entered on card indexes, or written into ledgers.

The History Detectives - an interview with Peter Barton

As the operation at Pheasant Wood winds down, watch an interview with Peter Barton, co-secretary of this Group, as he talks with Paola Totaro, the Europe correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald in London.
A full account of the work that has been ongoing this year at Pheasant Wood, near Fromelles in northern France, can be seen at the CWGC site remembering fromelles

Fromelles Field

May 2009: Lord Faulkner of Worcester lays a wreath in the Australian Memorial Park in Fromelles on behalf of the All-party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915.


April 2009: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission launches a new website remembering fromelles. The recovery phase of the Fromelles operation will commence on 5 May with a blessing of the site at Pheasant Wood.

February 2009:  WWI soldiers to be exhumed from mass graves
The remains of around 400 British and Australian soldiers killed in the Battle of Fromelles are to be exhumed from mass graves and individually buried.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission selects location for new war cemetery at Fromelles.
The CWGC has confirmed the location of a new war cemetery to contain the remains of up to 400 Australian and British First World War soldiers.

On Monday 29 September,2008, Warren Snowdon, Australian Defence Minister, visited the site at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles. In this photograph he can be seen with Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group.

This photograph is of Dr Tony Pollard from the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at Glasgow University, who is explaining to Australian Defence minister and his delegation what his team found when conducting excavations at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles, earlier this year.


Wreath from the All-Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group laid on the 92nd anniversary of the Battle at Fromelles

On 19 July 2008, the 92nd anniversary of the Battle at Fromelles, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Chairman, together with Peter Barton, First World War historian and co-secretary of this Group, were present at a commemoration ceremony held to honour the fallen at Fromelles Field. Lord Faulkner laid a wreath on behalf of the Group.

The sculpture "Cobbers" (known as the Diggers Memorial) in the Australian Memorial Park commemorates the Australian casualties of July 19 1916, in total over 5000.













See also report in La Voix du Nord of 22 July 2008

WWI 'mass grave' to be sealed:     Report (13 June 2008) on the BBC News website

Excavation of WW1 graves has begun on a series of mass grave pits at Fromelles Field in northern France. The pits could contain the remains of up to 400 British and Australian soldiers killed in the disastrous attack on German lines during the 1916 Battle of Fromelles. The excavation work is being carried out by a team from the Glasgow University Archaeological Division under Dr Tony Pollard and is expected to take a maximum of three weeks.

Video footage Excavation of WW1 graves from BBC | Article in the Guardian of 3 June 2008

On June 5 2008, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group, tabled the following Question in the House of Lords:

“whether, following the recent discovery of large numbers of human remains, Her Majesty's Government will initiate discussions to establish a Commonwealth War Graves site at Fromelles in northern France.” Read the Hansard report here

Further background information can be found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, and also the Current Issues page on this website.

Who are we?

The All-Party Parliamentary War Heritage Group, chaired by Lord Faulkner of Worcester, has over 90 members.
Co-secretaries are Peter Barton, historian & author of several books on WW1 in association with the Imperial War Museum & Professor Peter Doyle, a military terrain specialist.

Some useful links