As an archaeological dig continues to unearth human remains in a field in northern France, families in the Illawarra are hoping their lost relatives will be among the dead.
At least 19 of the region's men died in the World War I Battle of Fromelles on July 19, 1916, with 14 still unaccounted for.
Ninety-two years later, their relatives are hoping for closure, that these men are among the 170 Australians and 300 British thought to be buried in an unmarked, mass grave dug by the Germans after the battle.
Two soldiers, Robert Fenwick, a 22-year-old coalminer from Helensburgh, and Reginald Wildman, a Wollongong born 19-year-old farmhand, are almost certainly included.
Their dog tags were among those removed by the Germans before they were interred, the cardboard identification discs later handed over to the Red Cross.
But Coledale-based war historian and author Patrick Lindsay said the remaining relatives need not lose hope as more soldiers may have been buried without any identification being taken.
Roughly 7000 Australians were involved in the battle at Fromelles, with 5533 casualties either killed, wounded or captured in one night.
Mr Lindsay, who wrote the book Fromelles, said the Germans offered a truce at the conclusion of the fight so that the dead might be claimed, but it was refused by the British.
"So the Germans picked the bodies up where they fell behind the German line ... and buried them on the top side of Pheasant Wood," he said.
This week's archaeological dig began on Monday, with the discovery of a human hand and arm made the following day, and another forearm, leg bone and yet-to-be identified piece of bone found buried in clay on Thursday night.
Pieces of badly decayed fabric plus pieces of metal have also been unearthed in three separate pits where archaeologists and forensic experts have concentrated their search, believing them to be part of eight pits dug by the Germans.
The findings are being watched carefully by Tarrawanna grandfather of five, Bob Richardson.
Mr Richardson's uncle Harold Richardson was killed at Fromelles while his father Alexander "Vin" Richardson survived the slaughter, but at a terrible emotional cost.
Harold was a 26-year-old colliery clerk at Stockton, near Newcastle, when he enlisted on June 30, 1915. Small of stature at 5ft 3in (160cm) and weighing just 122 pounds (55kg), he managed to convince the Army of his suitability. But brother Vin, who stood at 5ft 2in (157cm), was not so fortunate.
As Harold sailed off to war, the Richardson family relocated to Woonona, where Vin again tried to enlist and was finally accepted on June 14, 1916.
Just four weeks later, he was fighting beside his brother in the Battle of Fromelles.
Vin returned home from the war a sergeant in 1919, but was in such a distressed state, he refused to speak of his experiences to his family and later his wife and three children, taking the events of the battle to his grave.
"He couldn't settle down because of the trench warfare and the emotion of seeing so many dead bodies," Mr Richardson said.
"He was unable to sleep in a closed room for years after. He slept on the verandah with a mosquito net around his bed."
Mt Keira's Margaret Ingold, 66, is also tracking the developments in France, hoping for news of her uncle, Raymond Murray.
Raymond was a 21-year-old Wollongong carpenter and "Water Rat" at Wollongong Surf Club when he signed up with the 30th Battalion in November 1915.
Full story in the weekend edition of The Mercury
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