Wrong flag used in Fromelles burials

Posted on 10th February 2010 by Sydney News in france,nz - Tags: , , , , , , ,

.The Federal Opposition has revealed that an inaccurate version of the Australian flag was flown at the previous month’s burial ceremony for Australian World War I soldiers in northern France.
The Veterans Affairs Department has confirmed problems with the flag involved one of the stars on the Southern Cross being in the wrong place.
The department says the problem is a matter for the Army, which conducted the ceremony in Fromelles.
It also had the Union Jack upside down and was a different shape.
“I would think that we wouldn’t be flying or ordering any flags and declaring and using them as an Australian flag when they were so incorrect,” Ms Markus said.
Opposition veteran’s affairs spokeswoman Louise Markus says she wants an explanation.
“The Minister for Veterans Affairs was there.
“I understand even the dimensions of the flag were not accurate. He needs to be able to explain why a flag that was not our Australian flag was flown as if it was. He was representing the Government.
The soldiers, who were killed in the 1916 Battle of Fromelles, are being buried at a cemetery close to where their remains were found in 2008.”
The first of 250 unknown British and Australian soldiers who died in World War I were reburied the previous month.
DNA tests have been carried out on the remains and the results are expected in March.
The cemetery was built close to a muddy field where the mass grave was discovered.

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