A New Cemetery for a New Century. In May 2009 archaeologists began to excavate the remains of 250 British and Australian soldiers, buried behind German lines after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916 - undiscovered, for nearly a century until an Australian historian convinced military authorities that they were there. This commemorative publication includes a detailed history of the battle as well as charting the story of the discovery of the mass graves, the archaeology behind the excavations, identification, reburial and the construction of the first War Graves Commission cemetary since the end of the Second World War.