01 October 2008
The Hon Warren Snowdon MP meets with French counterpart Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel
On Tuesday 30 September 2008, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, met with his French counterpart, Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel, to discuss the recovery and re-interment of up to 400 Australian and British soldiers at Fromelles, France.
The meeting provided an opportunity for Minister Snowdon to thank the French Government for their crucial support of the limited excavation at the site earlier this year, which determined beyond doubt that the soldiers’ remains had laid in-situ for over 90 years.
It was also a chance for the two Ministers to discuss the joint agreement required between Australia, Britain and France for the exhumation of remains to commence. The three countries are currently negotiating a suitable timeframe and process for the recovery and re-interment of these First World War soldiers at Fromelles.
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP; French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel, and; Australian Ambassador to France, Mr David Ritchie, in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel, and Australian Ambassador to France, Mr David Ritchie in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP; French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel, and; the French Minister's aide de camp, in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
Australian aide de camp; French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel; French aide de camp; Senior Australian Army Representative on the Fromelles project, Major General Mike O'Brien, and Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel; Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, and Australian Ambassador to France, Mr David Ritchie in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel, and the French Minister's aide de camp, in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP; French Secretary of State attached to Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Monsieur Jean- Marie Bockel, and Australian Ambassador to France, Mr David Ritchie, in the Defence Ministry in Paris on Tuesday 30 September 2008.
