The eyes of the Nation are currently on Pheasant Wood at Fromelles, France, where unidentified Australian soldiers killed in the 1916 battle are being re-interred, after their mass grave was discovered in 2008.

Among the bodies buried by German troops after the battle, Peterborough’s Lieutenant Eric Harding Chinner, of the 32nd Battalion Australian Imperial Force (AIF), may be one of the 191 unknown Diggers waiting to be identified.

Son of former Petersburg Mayor, Thomas H. Chinner, young Eric was a serious young man who took his responsibilities to his community, his Nation and his God highly seriously.

Eric worked as a clerk at the former Savings Bank, attended Baptist church services, and was a member of the Cadet Corps and Militia, before joining the AIF in 1915.

After attending Duntroon Military college, Eric was appointed a Second Lieutenant and eventually joined the 32nd Battalion in 1916, prior to its embarkation for France from training camp in the United Kingdom.

In the AIF’s first action in France, Eric was mortally wounded and died in a German Army Aid Post on July 20, 1916.

In accordance with International conventions, his death was notified and his identification disc returned, but the site of his burial remained on the other side of the lines until the end of the war.

Eric is commemorated by a headstone on a grave at 7VC Corner in the Australian War Cemetery, but his resting place remained undisturbed and unknown for nine decades.

Former RSL Ladies Auxiliary President and Peterborough resident, Raelene Donaldson, said that she was pleased that the Diggers were to be identified and re-interred together in a new cemetery at Pheasant Wood.

Mrs Donaldson’s Grandfather, Heber Gladwell, was also killed at Fromelles while serving with 37th battalion, and is buried at Ballieu Cemetery.

The battle of Fromelles took place in what was referred to as a nursery sector - a quieter part of ‘The Line’ where fresh troops were sent to become accustomed to the Western Front conditions.