Social Issues

Andrew Bernie, from UWC-A  (the Australian Army’s unit responsible for finding, recovering and identifying Australian servicemen and women who remain unaccounted for – missing or presumed deceased – from all past conflicts) says there are approximately 25,000 unrecovered Australian Army war casualties.  He explains why relatives and descendants of those missing in conflicts should register their details with the UWC-A.  Andrew says that some people ask…. why don’t they just let bygones be bygones, and not bother.  Andrew explains the importance of locating and identifying these casualties, and how the UWC-A go about their work.

Interviewer Helen Meyer

Photo courtesy of Defence Image Gallery:

UWC-A members observe Sgt Jeff Lyon prepare to recover remains.

Note:  A Field Team from the Australian Army’s specialist Unrecovered War Casualties unit travelled to a remote site near Eora Creek with the hope of recovering the remains reported to be those of an Australian Soldier. The site had been reported by members of the Alola Village via the Lost Battlefield Trust. On Sunday 10 July the team moved to Oro Province to investigate further reports of remains reported to be those of Australian Soldiers. The team then moved to the 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.

Eora Creek was the site of the largest battle on the Owen Stanley Ranges, PNG during WW2