28 July 2011
For immediate release
Australian Unrecovered War Casualties unit investigates the ‘Lost Battlefield’
On 3 July 2011, a field team from the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit started investigations at a remote site called the ‘Lost Battlefield’ at Eora Creek on the Kokoda Track. World War II human remains had been found there by members of the Alola Village through the Lost Battlefield Trust.
Unrecovered War Casualties – Army (UWC-A) investigates all notifications to Army relating to the discovery of human remains, or evidence of the presence of human remains, in areas where Australians of past conflicts may not have been recovered.
The field team, made up of a Case Manager, Case Researcher, Australian Defence Force Investigation Service – Scenes of Crimes Officer, Archaeologist/Bio-Anthropologist, Forensic Dentist and Public Affairs Officer, were inserted by helicopter due to the inaccessible terrain, before making the long arduous trek into the site.
Using the skills of all members of the team, the remains were successfully extracted over a three day period in conjunction with Augustine Wak from the National Museum of Papua New Guinea.
“It was a really exciting opportunity to use the skills of the specialist team members with quite diverse backgrounds, who formed a highly effective team in a short period of time.
“The success of the case is dependent on a range of specialists from within Army, across the services and outside of Army,” Captain Andrew Bernie, the Case Researcher said.
The team then returned to Port Moresby to continue with the investigation of the identity of the remains. The investigation includes taking DNA samples to indentify ancestry, which can take up to six months.
It is not uncommon for remains to be excavated and put on display in villages along the track and handled by many individuals including trekkers, which makes DNA testing harder. Many of the sites can become contaminated and highly disturbed by individuals looking for artefacts.
“It is important that if people find human remains, that they do not try and excavate them, but leave them as they are and notify the Papua New Guinea National Museum or Unrecovered War Casualties - Army as soon as possible,” Doctor Marc Oxenham, the team’s Archaeologist/Bio-Anthropologist said.
Mr Wak from the National Museum advised that under the War Relics Act it is illegal for people to remove war relics and artefacts from PNG, and asked people to respect the relics, artefacts, and the law.
“At the conclusion of an investigation where remains are identified as being Australian, a dignified funeral service with full military honours will be offered to the family and conducted in accordance with their wishes.
“Should the remains be identified as being those of a Japanese soldier, they will be respectfully handed over to the Japanese Government,” Captain Bernie said.
UWC-A provides the official Australian Government response to the notification of human remains believed to be from World War II in PNG. It operates in partnership and with the approval of the Office of Australian War Graves, the National Museum of Papua New Guinea and the Kokoda Track Authority.
The field team returned to Australia on July 17, after investigating a number of other sites in the Oro Province of PNG.