Identifying the Fromelles Fallen.
As work goes on to the identify more than 300 First World War bodies found in a mass grave in Fromelles in northern France earlier this year, on PM tonight we hear from a man who hopes his grand uncle's remains have been discovered.
Leonard Twamley - seen here sitting -
was killed at Fromelles just weeks after arriving on the front lines. The battle - a diversionary attack from the bigger battle of the Somme - was a disaster for the Allies, with thousands of Australian, and British troops killed. Leonard - a private in Royal Warwickshires - was listed as missing, and his mother put this poignant notice in the Coventry Herald seeking any information on his whereabouts
Unfortunately she died without knowing what happened to her son, but Leonard's grand nephew, Richard Parker, has now taken up the quest to find his grand uncle's final resting place and after contacting PM, he is one step nearer to knowing whether Leonard's remains have indeed been uncovered in the mass graves.
Listen to PM
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Hello,
I wonder if Richard Parker's relative may be distantly related to my partner's family. He is a Twomlow by birth, but there are numerous variations in spelling, including Twamlow, Twamley, Twomley etc.
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Hi, I was very interested in tonight's story about Fromelles. Like Richard Parker I have relative listed as having died at Fromelles. He was an elder brother of my father and I am waiting for the possibility of supplying D.N.A. to help, if possible, with the identification of any remains. In the meantime I would be interested in finding out any information that might be contained in the national archive. How do I do this.
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Re Pte Leonard Twamley: A note to Richard Parker, regarding identification of the bodies in the mass graves. Have any members of the greater Twamley/ Parker families given DNA samples to the Australian & British authorities conducting "The Dig"? The former have specifically requested relatives to do this. Please remember also that the Germans were NOT showing disrespect by placing these men in mass graves. It was due to the constraints of the battle situation and for no other reason.
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When trying to trace my great uncle who was killed in WW1 I started with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website which gave details of his death and which War cemetery in Belgium contained his name on a commemorative panel.I've been unable to find his service records at the National Archives as many papers were destroyed in WW2 but I was able to read the original war diary from the time of his death. Hope this is useful information.
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This is a great story but realisticaly the likelihood of one of the 250 or so bodies being identifed as your man is very low. For a very comprehensive account of the action in which Pte Twamley was killed I'd suggest 'Fromelles 1916' by Paul Cobb (History Press, Stroud 2007 ISBN 978-0-7524-4174-0) - excellent reviews. I expect that you know he is commemmorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing along with most of the other British 'missing' from this action. Incidentally, I note that the photo in the newspaper cutting shows him wearing an Territorial Force Imperial Service Badge i.e. that he volunteered to serve overseas.
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