The bodies were discovered following historical research that included analysis of aerial photographs showing the presence of mass graves on the edge of Pheasant Wood (Bois Faisan), just outside the village of Fromelles.

A specially convened Identification Board published a report on 17 March 2010 announcing the first 75 bodies to have been successfully identified using DNA analysis.

In parallel with the recovery and identification projects, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was asked by the British and Australian governments to construct a new cemetery to house the bodies.

One final reburial took place as part of the cemetery's dedication ceremony, which was held on 19 July 2010 to mark the 94th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles.

This was the first major battle on the Western Front involving the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF),[3] and has been described as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history.

Some of these burial sites were located in the years immediately following the First World War, and the bodies were reburied in cemeteries in the area, including the V.C.

In May 2006, 60 Minutes reporter Ray Martin and producer Stephen Rice began an investigation of Englezos's theories and visited Fromelles to examine his evidence.

[11] The main excavation was carried out by Oxford Archaeology from May to September 2009,[12] and resulted in the recovery of 250 British and Australian bodies from five mass graves, and some 6,200 individual artefacts.

[13] Appeals have been made for relatives of soldiers known to have died in the battle to come forward, and DNA analysis by LGC Forensics is being carried out in an attempt to identify the bodies.

The original location of the mass graves was considered as a site for the cemetery (and was offered as such by the landowner), but the ground was found to be too prone to flooding.

The site that was chosen was nearby, about 120 metres to the southwest of the original battlefield mass graves, but on a higher piece of land just outside the village of Fromelles.

This higher location for the cemetery allowed the deliberate placement of the Cross of Sacrifice at a place where it would be visible on the skyline when viewed from the nearby V.C.

Written by the Board co-Chairs from the UK Ministry of Defence and the Australian Defence Force, the report stated that the object of the project is "the dignified recovery of the remains of those soldiers who have lain in the field at Pheasant Wood for the last 93 years so as to provide them the same courtesies that were extended to their colleagues when the battlefields were cleared at the end of the War – an individual burial with military honours and their name on their headstone where ever possible.

This was done in April 2009, and though no unexploded munitions were found, other wartime debris was cleared from the area, including barbed wire and shell cases.

[19] Although access to the main construction and excavation sites was restricted by this point, there was still great interest shown, with visits both by the media, and by schoolchildren and relatives of those who had died at Fromelles.

[20] The geology of the site, a former farmer's field on a slight slope, with a heavy clay soil that is subject to seasonal movements when wet, meant that substantial foundations and drainage had to be constructed.

This screw-piling technique ensured that the cemetery foundations were both end-bearing and friction-bearing in nature, increasing the stability of the pilings and the structures they support.

Many months would be needed to develop and prune the plants in pots so they would be ready to transplant in the Spring of 2010, in preparation for the opening ceremony that July.

[25] Heavy rain during August delayed the construction work, but in September and October, a period of fine dry weather allowed progress to be made on the most complex part of the project, the Cross of Sacrifice and its terrace and foundations.

[13] The inaugural reburial and ceremony took place at 11 am local time on 30 January 2010, with around 400 people watching from the viewing areas outside the cemetery walls.

Orders of service were available in English and French, and the ceremony was attended by representatives from Australia, France, the UK and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, all of whom paid tribute to the fallen.

Let them rest in peace in this land for which they shed their blood and which owes them everything, including freedom!The gun salute was fired by soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and the Australian Army.

In addition, there were public displays at Fromelles Town Hall (Mairie) and at the recovery location, and a Book of Remembrance is available to sign.

[35] Each day of reburials opened with a parade where a ceremonial guard oversaw the raising of the Union (British), Australian and French flags.

A bearer party conveyed each coffin from a hearse to the designated burial plot, and the chaplain conducted the funeral service.

The silence was broken by the trumpeter sounding Reveille, the chaplain then read a final blessing, the flags were raised back to full-staff and then re-lowered and removed, and the parade marched off.

[45] The coffin was then carried into the cemetery by a bearer party of soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and Australia's Federation Guard.

The dedication service then took place, which included relatives of those killed at Fromelles reading extracts from letters and diaries from the First World War.

[46] A further memorial was added on the west side of the cemetery dedicated to the 133 rugby players who lost their lives in the Great War.