‘Emotional’: Richard Marles fights back tears after identification of great-uncle lost in WWI a century ago

Defence Minister Richard Marles fought back tears on Wednesday as he described the identification of his great uncle — who was lost in the First World War — as an “emotional” moment for him and his family.

At just 19-years-old his great uncle Lieutenant Andrew Anderson had enlisted with the consent of his parents and served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, including at Pozieres, Mouquet Farm and Bullecourt.

While he rose up the ranks from private, the young Queenslander was killed just two weeks after being promoted to lieutenant during the Battle of Menin Road, near Ypres in Belgium in 1917.

He had been buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery, Belgium and was one of 11 Australian Diggers formally identified this year by Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit after more than a century.

The federal government announced their names on Remembrance Day to ensure their service and sacrifice are realised by future generations.

Speaking outside the Australian War Memorial after the Remembrance Day ceremony, Mr Marles said he had only found out weeks ago and hoped he could one day visit his grave site.

“For me, it does feel emotional. I have four kids; two sons, two daughters. They’re of a similar age to what he was. He was 23 when he died,” Mr Marles said.

“I guess it feels poignant in terms of having children who are the same age, trying to imagine them in that circumstance.

“Those who died in the First World War were young people whose lives were taken away from them.

“The one memory my sisters and I have is of my grandmother, his sister, having his photo in her house. His face is bright and optimistic.

“And that was a pretty sacred thing. It wasn’t to be touched. And that’s all we had.

“It feels very personal, obviously, to me, but this is something that’s played out for 11 other families around Australia.”

While many of the Australian soldiers identified by the specialist unit each year are matched through DNA testing, Mr Marles great uncle was found in part by a passioned historian in Scotland.

Mr Marles said Reverend Gaenor Berkin had made it her life’s work to try and identify soldiers and had been key to putting all the documents together.

“She happened to come across my great uncle’s case in 2020,” he said.

“After painstaking research that she undertook, she wrote to the Unrecovered War Casualties Unit of the Australian Army to say she believed that she’d been able to identify Andrew Anderson.

“And that in turn set off an inquiry from that unit.”

There will be a formal service next year at Lieutenant Anderson’s grave where his unmarked headstone will be changed.

Mr Marles said the “remarkable” efforts to identify his great uncle also brought home to him the importance of his role and his thanks for the men and women who step into uniform to serve the country.

“There are 103,000 Australians who’ve worn that uniform have never taken it off,” he said.

“I guess on this Remembrance Day in thinking about my great uncle and his story, it brings home even closer the significance of this day.

“We obviously owe them a debt of gratitude, of course, as we do to those who wear that uniform today.”

Mr Marles, who is currently acting Prime Minister while Anthony Albanese is at COP31, was among hundreds at the national ceremony in Canberra on Wednesday.

Governor General Sam Mostyn, Nationals MP Michael McCormack, ACT chief minister Andrew Barr, and former Labor Leader Kim Beazley were also among representatives to lay wreaths.

Master of Ceremonies Scott Bevan told attendees said WWI was the “largest and most costly conflict the world had known”.

“The Great War involved the mobilisation of 70 million personnel in uniform worldwide,” he said.

“They fought in a global conflict that drew in more than 100 countries, caused the disintegration of old empires, and reshaped the political order for much of the 20th century.”

Regional support chaplain Kelly Horne delivered the commemorative address and spoke about Australia’s support and training for Ukrainian fighters after Russian’s illegal invasion.

She had been among those deployed to the United Kingdom to help train Ukrainian soldiers under Operation Kudu in 2023 and described moments of human connection during military rotations.

“These trainees would become soldiers the following week and would find themselves on the front line in Ukraine,” she said.

“They needed every military trick in the book, and our amazing contingent of mostly young Australians gave them everything that they could.

“War changes people permanently. It is so very easy to look at the sheer number of lives lost.

“But one thing that Operation Kudu, our support for Ukrainian troops, has taught me is that there is always something that we can do.”

This year also marked 85th anniversary of the opening of the Australian War Memorial.

Across Australia a minute silence was held at 11am to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 — the precise time fighting ceased on the Western Front in France and the war ended with the signing of the Armistice.

At the time the war broke out in 1914, Australia was a nation of just under five million people and more than 416,800 volunteered to serve, nearly 40 per cent of all men aged 18 to 44.

More than 60,000 were killed, and a further 156,000 were wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor described Remembrance Day as a “time-honoured tradition” that “in silence, stillness, and solemn reflection – Australians will remember our fallen”.

He said the day “carries much weight” for many families including his own with his grandfather serving in the First World War and his wife’s grandfather serving in the Second World War.

“Australia wouldn’t be the country it is today but for all those Australians who, across our history, risked all to fight evil, to defend our home, and to preserve our freedoms.

“The deeds of those who served – and the inheritance they’ve bequeathed – inspire us to do what we must to protect our way of life.”

He was among a raft of politicians to pay their respect, including Coalition members James Paterson, Phillip Thompson and Mr McCormack who issued a joint statement.

“On this day, over a century ago, the guns fell silent across Europe after four years of immense loss,” they said.

“Today our nation again pauses in silence to remember those who died in what became known as the First World War, and in all the wars since.”

During his flight to Turkey Mr Albanese stopped in Singapore, where he laid a wreath with Australia’s Singapore High Commissioner Robyn Mudie at the Changi Chapel to remember 15,000 Australians who were prisoners of war during World War II.

“The 15,000 Australians who were interned here in Changi represent the best of the Australian character. They showed courage, selflessness, sacrifice and mateship,” Mr Albanese said.

After proceedings in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Marles and other attendees placed poppies on the panels of the Roll of Honours inside the memorial, as part of an annual tradition.

The newly identified Australian troops through the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit:

• Private Roy Hawkins, 3rd Battalion AIF, of Armidale, NSW
• Sergeant Charles Henry Nicholls, 46th Battalion AIF, of Ballarat, Victoria
• Lieutenant Howard Victor Morey, 58th Battalion AIF, of Lilydale, Victoria
• Lieutenant John Maher Lyons, 17th Battalion AIF, of Randwick, NSW
• Lieutenant Andrew Anderson, 7th Australian Machine Gun Company AIF, of Bundaberg, Queensland
• Second Lieutenant James Albert McMichael, 37th Battalion AIF, of Melbourne, Victoria
• Private Thomas Easton, 30th Battalion AIF, of Adamstown, NSW
• Corporal Harry Maitland Whiteoak, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Preston, Victoria
• Private George Laban Lupson, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Fremantle, WA
• Private James Campbell, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Queenstown, Tasmania
• Lance Corporal Alexander Joseph Jack, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Brunswick, Victoria