SYDNEY, March 17, 2010 (AFP) - DNA tests have identified more than a third of 203 Australian soldiers unearthed from a World War I mass grave in northern France, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Wednesday.
    Rudd said the remains of 75 soldiers excavated and reburied in individual graves at Fromelles had been identified by name, following forensic tests linking them to living relatives.
    "After waiting for nearly 94 years those families now have some certainty," the prime minister told parliament.
    "We hope that the certainty of a final resting place will be of comfort to the relatives of the fallen."
    Those identified were among 203 sets of remains found to be Australian in a mass grave of 250 soldiers, dug by German troops following the disastrous 1916 Battle of Fromelles.
    More than 5,500 Australian soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing in the battle -- the bloodiest 24 hours in Australia's history -- and Rudd said many families had been left with unanswered questions about the fate of their loved ones.
    "Where there are registered relatives for the identified soldiers one of those relatives has now been contacted for each soldier," he said.
    "The work to identify them by name is continuing. We are hopeful that more soldiers will be identified," he added.
    All but one of the grave's 250 sets of remains have been reburied in individual plots at an official war cemetery near the original grave site, which was discovered in 2007.
    Allied soldiers were cut down by machine-gun fire as they advanced through open fields, and German troops buried their bodies in several pits at the forest site, which is surrounded by rich farm country.
    The final soldier would be laid to rest at a commemorative event on the battle's 94th anniversary on July 19, said Rudd.
    The defence department said the scale of successful identification had exceeded "even our most optimistic forecasts", though they would unlikely be able to identify all 203.
    "Each of the 250 sets of remains that were found have been analysed using all available historical, anthropological, artefact and DNA evidence," said Greg Combet, minister for defence personnel.
    "For those who have been identified so far, DNA proved to be a key piece of the identification puzzle."
    Tests on bones recovered from the site revealed most of the soldiers were under 20 years old, some of whom probably lied about their age when they signed up.
    Boots, army badges and belt buckles along with keepsakes and a folded return train ticket from Fremantle to Perth were also recovered from the muddy pits.