Fromelles: The Final Chapters

[Fedelmar]

Our book is now avalable for purchase from Penguin ....

http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780670075362/fromelles-final-chapter

It is also available of Ebay.

Bright Blessings
Sandra

[gilly100]

Congratulations Sandra. Next time in Perth I will get one. Hope the launch goes well.

Ian

[Fedelmar]

Thanks Ian ... shame you can't be there

[CarylW]

Thank you! I noticed this for sale the other day and put it on my 'must buy' list. Congratulations to you both

Caryl

[Fedelmar]

Thanks Caryl

[ShirlD]

Looking forward to getting my copy, (and seeing you and Tim on the telly!)

Cheers

Shirley

ps well done, so much effort and a measure of heartache goes into such a project.

[frev]

Congrats to you both again!

Really looking forward to the launch - will keep the suspense going a bit longer, and buy my copy then

Cheers, Frev

[Fedelmar]

Thank you Shirl and Frev

[Fedelmar]

For those in Australia interested in attending the book launch ...

27th July 2013 at 1pm

Hellenic RSL Memorial Hall

14A Ferrars Place

Melbourne Vic

LIMITED SEATING

Gold coin donation

RSVP by 15th July

fedelmar@hotmail.com

 

Edited 9 November , 2021 by Fedelmar

[warproject]

Very Moving.

Does this mean if we click the TGWF "Amazon Books" links listed in Donations

TGWF will get a small commision.

It is available as a Kindle download.

Sandy

[Fedelmar]

Sandy ... I really don't know as I don't use Amazon ... I know it is available on Ebay in Australia and from Penguin as an Ebook

Bright Blessings

Sandra

[frev]

Well a week has gone by since the very successful launch of Tim & Sandra’s ‘Fromelles: The Final Chapters’. With an attendance of maybe 150 or more, it still seemed quite an intimate affair with so many friends & like-minded enthusiasts gathered together.

I had held out from buying the book earlier, wanting to attend the launch with that sense of anticipation of what was to come – and I wasn’t disappointed.

The afternoon was MC’d by Matt Smith (AWGPA) – and Lambis, Sandra, Tim & a Fromelles descendant, Annette Darling Tebb, each gave inspiring talks on their rolls in the search, reclamation and identification of these long missing men. Watching the passion as it flitted across their faces & listening to the joy & sorrow in their voices made me even more eager to get stuck in to the written word. But of course that had to wait a little longer, because we had an entire afternoon & evening ahead, of catching up with old friends & establishing new ones.

Sandra & Tim are well aware of my book fetish, and how I can buy them far quicker than I can read them – but although I was in the middle of one & have piles of ‘must read now’ waiting in the queue – I couldn’t help but start on FTFC the next morning. I knew Tim could spin a good yarn (having first entertained us with many a tale on our battlefield tour in 2007) & both his & Sandra’s articles in our FFFAIF Digger magazine are interesting & well-written – but to write an entire book, well that’s another story! However, I have to say I’m totally impressed.

Anyone that knows (or knows of) Tim & Sandra, aka Sherlock & Marple – know of their amazing research abilities, but it wasn’t until reading FTFC that I realised just how deep & involved their work had been. Over the years they’ve formed a wonderful bond, playing off each other’s strengths & weaknesses to build a formidable partnership.

Though, I have to admit to having been a little misled by the part of the title: ‘The Final Chapters’. This is not just the last piece of the jigsaw – a book about giving the boys back their identities, as I had thought – and Tim partially confirms this in the introduction when he states that it’s not a book of biographies, but is about remembrance, and all those who have championed this cause. So it was with great interest I found an overview of the entire Fromelles story opening before my eyes; from the original plans for the battle, right through to the point in time that the last identifications were made. It was a very easy book to read, and one I feel sure will have a wide appeal – and not just to those who are ‘Great War Obsessed.’

So, to Sandra & Tim – congratulations once again to you both on your tireless efforts to give these boy’s lives, and deaths, true meaning. You’ve certainly done your part to ensure their memories will live on.

I am incredibly humbled to count two such amazing & dedicated people amongst my friends.

Cheers, Frev

[moggs]

Another 10 days passed before I could find the time to complete reading this fascinating book. Thanks Frev for pushing me. It's definitely worth the effort - well written informative and, most importantly, full of humanity at its best.

The launch was, as has been stated, an emotional event with many stories clutching at the heart. I will always remember sitting there listening to Annette Tebb for the passion she had for finding her relative. When I read the epilogue to the book I was immediately drawn back and tears flowed. I know in my book there are moments where tears may be required but it is a story albeit based on fact. Annette's writing IS fact, this is the humanity that I strive for and to which, I believe, we can all learn from and grow.

Congratulations to Tim and Sandra not only for the book but also for all the work that went into making it all possible.

All the best

Jonathan

[Fedelmar]

Thanks Moggs

[Seadog]

Not sure where to post this but here goes, an image posted by a Flickr member relating to Fromelles click to view

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakegoodman/9758122812/

May I suggest if members can confirm whether the fallen soldiers are Australians then they post a comment on the image page.

Norman.

Added from a comment on the image:

That's the cemetery in the church yard at Fromelles (the church is to the right, just out of frame) where the 16RIR unit history states there was a German cemetery. The crucifix is still there, but the German cemetery was removed in the 1920s. The recently discovered mass grave at Pheasant Wood was found about 500 metres away - certainly close enough for these bodies to be buried there.

[Auimfo]

Norman here is the same group of fallen soldiers but taken from the opposite side. There is also a third photo that expands on the photo I've posted but I haven't got that to hand.

I believe that it actually depicts some of the allied dead from the Fromelles battle but who were transported and buried in a mass grave at Fournes, adjacent to the German Military Cemetery there. This mass grave was exhumed and the bodies recovered post-war.

Cheers,

Tim L.

[Seadog]

Thanks Tim, certainly very sobering and sad images.

Norman

[Auimfo]

Here's the other photo I was talking about. The actual prepared mass grave can be seen to one side of the photos with poles straddling the opening. Recovered from this grave post-war were 40 British and 10 Australian soldiers. The only one identified at the time was 3501 Private Patrick Gearing, 53rd Bn AIF - so he must be in these photos somewhere. He is now buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez. (I'm assuming that's probably where they were all re-interred).

Cheers,

Tim L.

[Seadog]

Thanks for that Tim and for your ongoing contributions to the Flickr image, like many I guess I have never seen these horrific photos before. I cannot imagine why such an image as that on Flickr would ever have been put on a postcard for I presume sale to the public. Even when the enemy fallen were so depicted what possible reason can there have been for those who then purchased these.

Regards

Norman

[spof]

Fournes German Cemetery today. I keep forgetting to check the buildings around it to see if they are the same ones (or at least rebuilt post-war) The July 1916 casualties are off to the right and a little behind the spot where I took this photo.

Glen

[roel22]

All dead in post #15 had their boots removed. I didn't know this already happened as early as 1916...

Roel

[SiegeGunner]

The buildings in the background of the photo accompanying post #18 belonged to a school or hospital for orphans and are still there. There are varying opinions on the low building to the right of the bodies in the photo accompanying post #16. Personally, I think that it was the timber store of an undertaker/coffin-maker.

Incidentally, anyone thinking of visiting the German cemetery at Fournes would be well advised to locate it first on Google Earth. The entrance is tucked away in the back left corner (behind the big white industrial shed) of the large expanse of hard-standing at the 'elbow' of the Rue François Marie Raoult. Look out for the neatly-clipped yew hedge that flanks the path leading to the gate.

[Auimfo]

Thanks Glen and Mick for the additional information and photos.

I've also been 'googling' to try and identify the buildings in the background but because of the cemetery location, google 'street-view' doesn't provide a clear photo of the building I suspect to be the one in the WW1 photo. Fortunately this building has what appears to be a slightly shorter twin adjacent to it that does front the road and is able to be viewed. I've attached a photo of it here (if you look closely at the gap between the buildings you can see glimpses of the actual building I believe to be in the WW1 photo).

It appears to be almost exactly like the one in the WW1 photo except for one slight difference - it has one window less along it's length. BUT, when I measured the length of the two buildings on googlemaps, the one I believe to be in the WW1 photo is actually longer than this one and most likely has the right number of windows along it's length.

Cheers,

Tim L.

[rivergirl]

I bought your book a few weeks ago, after coming accross it in Big W. ( bought abt 4 WW1 books that day)

Fascinating book, wonderful to read about the dear boys and see their pictures.

One of my relatives was at Fromelles, 29th Battalion, but he made it home.

[chrislock]

Fournes German Cemetery today. I keep forgetting to check the buildings around it to see if they are the same ones (or at least rebuilt post-war) The July 1916 casualties are off to the right and a little behind the spot where I took this photo.

Glen

I visit this particular cemetery often and my notes and memory confirm that when you enter the cemetery via the main entrance, immediately in front of you are located mass grave burials with flat granite plaques confirming around 100 German soldiers KIA 19/20/ July 1916 are buried within.