AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT: Australian war graves listed on Internet.

M2 PRESSWIRE-10 March 1999-AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT: Australian war graves listed on Internet (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:100399

Australians will be able to obtain the details of graves of 1.7 million members of the British Commonwealth forces who have died during the two world wars through a new Debt of Honour Register on the Internet.

The Debt of Honour Register has been established by Commonwealth War Graves Commission which is based in Britain.

"A very important part of Australia's history was written on the battlefields of many conflicts this century - 101,285 Australians were killed in the two world wars alone," the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Bruce Scott said.

"Today more people are taking the trouble to find out more about those who made the supreme sacrifice and the Commonwealth War Graves Internet site, in conjunction with the French Department of the Somme Internet site, will provide easy access to information about them," Mr Scott said.

The database makes it possible to identify the exact location by cemetery plot or memorial panel where any given name is commemorated. Details of 60,000 civilian casualties of World War II are also recorded.

"The Federal Government's four-year commemorative activities program, Their Service - Our Heritage has already raised awareness of the part Australian men and women have played in the defence of freedom in many parts of the world.

"The Government is determined that by the centenary of Federation in 2001, the entire community will have been given the opportunity to reflect upon the key role of all servicemen and women during the past hundred years," Mr Scott said.

The Commission, under the title of the Imperial War Graves Commission, was established by Royal Charter on May 21, 1917 and casualty details from World War I were stored on card indexes which were eventually compiled into some 1,500 registers.

After World War II, more than 600,000 names were added to the records.

The cemeteries and memorials where these names are commemorated in perpetuity are located in 150 countries. A number of war cemeteries in Australia and the South Pacific are maintained by the Office of Australian War Graves on behalf of the Commonwealth Commission.

In France, the Department of the Somme where some of the fiercest battles of World War I took place has also opened an Internet site to help relatives of British and Allied troops who died in combat on French ground trace their place of burial. It is linked to the Commonwealth War Graves site.

The Debt of Honour Register is at http://www.cwgc.org and the French site is at http://www.anzac.org.

CONTACT: Michael Priebe Tel: +61 (02) 6277 7820 Tel: +61 0418 482 514

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