Graves of two Australian soldiers rededicated after Polygon Wood Dawn Service

A rededication service was held for two Australian First World War soldiers at the CWGC’s Tyne Cot Cemetery this morning.

Lance Corporal James Allan Launchbury and Private Charles Gordon Williams were previously buried as “Unknown Australian Soldiers”, but were identified following research by the Fallen Diggers Inc.

The soldiers were members of a machine gun team manning a position in a trench on the Westhoek Ridge, on 5 October during the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge. That night their trench received a direct hit from a German shell and both soldiers, along with two others in the team – Pte Ernest Biegel and Pte Lawrence Cross – were killed instantly. All four soldiers were buried by their comrades in a shell hole near where they were killed with a wooden cross erected to mark their graves. However, the cross was later destroyed or lost.

When the soldiers remains were recovered in 1920 for reburial at Tyne Cot Cemetery, only two of the four soldiers - Pte Biegel and Pte Cross - could be identified. L/Cpl Launchbury and Pte Williams were reburied as “Unknown Australian Soldiers”.

The service was attended by Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley and Mrs Hurley, Director General of the CWGC Victoria Wallace, and the Mayor of Zonnebeke Dirk Sioen.

VADM Griggs unveiled Pte William’s headstone, and the Governor-General unveiled L/Cpl Launchbury’s headstone and laid a wreath with Lady Cosgrove at his grave.

Earlier, the Governor-General and Lady Cosgrove, Governor of New South Wales, and Mrs Wallace attended a Dawn Service marking the centenary of the Battle of Polygon Wood at the CWGC’s Buttes New British Cemetery, alongside Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid, Princess of Belgium.

Ahead of the service, attendees followed a Reflective Trail that stretched more than one kilometre through the forest from the edge of Polygon Wood to the entrance of the cemetery.

Polygon Wood was the first major battle for the Australian 5th Division in Belgium and resulted in more than 5,700 casualties.

After the First World War, the 5th Australian Division built its divisional memorial on the ‘Butte’ in Polygon Wood. The towering obelisk overlooks Buttes New British Cemetery where more than 650 Australian soldiers are commemorated, the majority unknown.