Mackay North State High School's “Spirit of Anzac” Commemorative Tour took place in September 2006. The tour was the fourth undertaken by the school and saw 28 students commemorate 105 soldiers and 33 nurses during their three week tour to Gallipoli, France, Belgium and Singapore.

The primary aim of the project and tours is to research Australian soldiers and visit their overseas graves and memorials on behalf of families from around Australia. Photos of the graves are taken and presented to the families on the group’s return.

This personalisation of history is the cornerstone of the project. Students get to ‘know’ their men, to study their lives and the circumstances surrounding their deaths – and to speak with their relatives. When they finally find the graves or memorial names, the emotions can be very overwhelming.

This personal connection gives rise to a rich tapestry of wonderful historical research. As the students delve into personal records and archives they evolve into young, vibrant historians. Their theories, ideas and arguments are then given a practical life when they embark on their personal pilgrimages.

One student’s research journey was particularly satisfying from an historical perspective – and even more emotional from a personal perspective. Early in 2005, after she had joined the ‘Spirit of Anzac’ group, 16 year old Nicole Sauer learnt of a great, great uncle who died in WW1. Lance Corporal James Allen Launchbury (known as Allan), no. 382, served in the 25th Co. Aust. Machine Gun Corps. He was just 20 years old when he was killed in the mud of Flanders on the night of 5 October as he and his machine gun team manned trenches on Westhoek Ridge.

Nicole’s research quickly led her to the knowledge that Allan has no known grave and that he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ieper, Belgium. When Nicole informed her aged grandmother of this fact, it was something her grandmother couldn’t quite understand. Her vague family recollections of a long fallen uncle never indicated to her that he could possibly be “missing”. She had always assumed he had a grave and found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that a name on a wall was all that there was to mark his life and death.

Nicole then set herself to learn as much as she could about Allan. She knew she would have the opportunity on the tour to commemorate him at the Menin Gate, but she wanted to know more about how he died. And she wanted to give her grandmother something – some explanation for why he has no known grave.

This led her to the Australian War Memorial’s digitised Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files and it was here that a story and a theory began to evolve. Nicole learnt that Allan was killed by a shell on that fateful night The Red Cross files provide solid corroborating evidence of Allan’s fate, with the most detailed account given by Pte W. Thompson:
“He was killed at night in October near Polygon Wood instantly by a 5.2 shell which hit the parados and burst down the trench. The shell also killed 3 other men of the team, L/Corp Beigle (sic), L/Corp Williams and Pte Cross and knocked me over but did not wound me ….. they were all buried in a shell hole in front of the parapet and a cross was made for the grave.” Pte W. Thompson 10/4/18

Pte R. Dunsford supported this report, as did numerous other soldiers.
“One shell came and killed four of our MGC (including Launchbury). They were afterwards buried near the spot and a cross put up.” Pte R Dunsford 11/4/18

Nicole also found files on Pte Cross, one of the other men killed. Again, the story is consistent:
“I was with Pte Cross when he was killed and I was one of the boys that buried him. He is buried with 3 other comrades on the field not in a soldier’s cemetery, and there was a cross erected over same.” Pte F Turner 2/3/18

“… he was buried in the field alongside his gun position together with three of his comrades who were killed with the same shell, and a few weeks later, I had charge of a party and erected a nice wooden cross to denote his last resting place.”
Sgt J Phillips 11/2/18

The fact that Allan Launchbury is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial gave rise to a number of questions for Nicole. The Red Cross evidence clearly states that a cross was erected . Nicole felt that the most likely reason why Allan has no known grave is that the cross was subsequently destroyed and the battlefield grave lost – a common occurrence, and a feasible argument.

However, it was when Nicole checked the burial details of the three other men who died with Allan that the story became more intriguing.

The men killed were Pte Charles Williams, from Streaky Bay, South Australia. He was only 19 when he died in that trench in Belgium. Like Allan, Charles is listed on the Menin Gate Memorial and Nicole expected to find the other two men listed on the memorial as well. She was wrong.

Pte Ernest Biegel, from Toowoomba, and only 22 years old when he died, is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery – grave reference XXXIII. D. 10, whilst Pte Lawrence Cross, also 22 and from Kingaroy, is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery as well – grave reference XXXIII. D. 9. He lies next to Ernest Biegel.

The corroborating evidence from the Red Cross files clearly indicates that all four men were buried together. If they lay together in the battlefield grave, why, Nicole asked herself, did Cross & Biegel have marked graves whilst Williams and Launchbury did not.

Her contention was that the grave was found at a subsequent date and, for whatever reasons, only two of the four bodies could be identified. Under the common circumstances of battlefield exhumations, this seemed like a viable argument.

However, it was Nicole’s next theory that became the focus of a great deal of emotional conjecture. It was possible, she reasoned, that the four men were buried together in Tyne Cot Cemetery. The fact that Cross and Biegel lie side by side meant that it was possible that the unidentified bodies of Launchbury and Williams were laid next to them when they were reinterred.

There was one practical way to give some credence to her theory – if she were to find two unknown Australian graves next to Biegel and Cross when she visited the cemetery. For 12 months during the tour preparations, Nicole mused over this possibility and one of the most anticipated events of the tour for the whole group was visiting Tyne Cot Cemetery to see whether Nicole’s theory was at least credible.

Mike Goodwin, the teacher in charge of the tour, clearly remembers that fateful day:

“Nicole walked ahead of the group - down the rows until she came across the correct row. We watched her as she walked along the headstones – finally coming to those of Biegel and Cross together. Then I saw her slump and put her hands to her face . We all realised what she had discovered. As we joined her, she stood, tearfully staring at two headstones side by side that both read, ‘An Australian Soldier of the Great War’.”

“I stepped close to Nicole and asked, “which one is he?”.

“This one”, she said through sobs, pointing to the left hand grave. She then knelt down, ran her hand along the headstone and planted an Australian flag. To her, this was Allan.”

At this moment, clinical research and unproven personal theory found a common ground. Nicole the historian knew she could never prove the grave next to Biegel and Cross was that of her relative. But that didn’t matter. To Nicole the person, that headstone represented Allan’s resting place. .

Later that day, Nicole paid tribute to Allan at the Menin Gate. Her eulogy ended with these words:
“Allan, although I never knew you, from what I was told by my grandmother you were a brave man and died fighting for a cause that you truly believed in. Allan, you have done your family proud and will always be remembered.”

Nicole took a photo of the headstone back to her grandmother who now believes her uncle has a grave. She is so happy and proud that her granddaughter found it and has stood before it. She believes that Allan can now rest in peace.

Nicole’s story provides a sobering reminder that whilst evidence and proof are the keys to credible research, they are not always necessary to find comfort and to close a final personal chapter.

Postscript:
After her return to Australia, Nicole delved deeper into the story and sought information about the burial of Biegel and Cross from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. She received the following reply:

“According to our records, Pte. Biegel, Pte. Cross and two unidentified Australian soldiers were recovered from trench map reference 28.D.27.c.50.50. in April 1920. Biegel and Cross were identified from the discovery of their id discs. The other two were identifiable as Australians from the discovery of Australian shoulder titles. They are now buried next to Biegel and Cross in graves 33.D.11 and 12.
I trust you find this information useful."
Yours sincerely
Roy Hemington
CWGC Archive Supervisor

This information virtually confirms Nicole’s historical theory and it has provided her with an even greater sense of closure. Of course, no official report will ever prove which soldier is buried in which grave.

But Nicole knows …… Allan is on the left.

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