A FORMER Bournemouth University academic has told of the part she played in identifying the remains of those who fell in a World War I battle a century ago.

Dr Linda O’Connell, a consultant forensic and biological anthropologist, was employed as part of a project to excavate graves from the Battle of Fromelles.

Two soldiers from Dorset were among the 1,547 British known to have died at Fromelles, along with the 5,533 Australians reported killed, wounded or missing.

The battle, on July 19-20 1916, was a disastrous Allied attempt to pin down German troops in Flanders and prevent them from being sent south to the Somme.

Dr O’Connell, previously a medical doctor, was employed in 2009 by Oxford Archaeology on the Fromelles Project, overseen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

The purpose was to excavate graves at Fromelles and identify the remains from a ‘pool’ of possible identities.

Dr O’Connell said: “During the very initial stages of the project, I assisted in the excavation, recording and recovery of individuals from one of the graves for a two-week period, but then spent the remainder of the time working within the temporary mortuary.

“I was responsible for undertaking skeletal analysis of the remains and thus providing information that could potentially assist in the complex process of identification.

“Following recovery and analysis, the human remains and associated materials were reburied in individually marked graves in the newly commissioned CWGC Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery, Fromelles.

“Since that time, a Joint Identification Board has been responsible for assessing the anthropological information, in combination with all other data collected, in an attempt to identify individuals to either the Australian or British Army and an individual level.”

“To date, 144 Australian soldiers have been named, with a further 69 being identified to army (67 Australian and two British). Thirty-seven soldiers remain unknown.”

Dr O’Connell worked at Bournemouth University from 1996-2007, helping establish its postgraduate courses in forensic archaeology and anthropology, before going freelance.

“The work that I undertook at Fromelles was incredibly momentous and significant and I feel enormously proud and privileged to have been able to play my part in laying those brave men to rest,” she said.

“The great and intangible sacrifice that they made must never be forgotten.”

Dr O’Connell will deliver a lecture, Don't Forget me Cobber: Remembering the Fallen of Fromelles, 1916, for Poole Museum Society on Wednesday, November 16, 7.30pm.