SPVA's newest video cast its eye on history

We've just released the third in a series of videos highlighting a variety of items of interest to the service and veterans community.

In the latest video, presenter Don Goldie looks at the work of the Historic Casualty Casework team, a small, dedicated unit working within the MoD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC).

The Casework team deals with all enquires relating to individual military fatalities outside the recent past and co-ordinates investigations following the discovery of human remains of personnel killed in the First and Second World Wars,. This fascinating work involves attempts to identify the casualty and trace their next of kin or descendants. They then arrange an appropriate military funeral in the country concerned, if that is the wish of the family.

The team have recently been heavily involved in the Fromelles Project which called for their expertise in the identification and reburial of 250 British and Australian troops who were killed during the battle in 1916. The videocast features an interview with Sue Raftree, head of the Fromelles team, who explains the procedures that were undertaken in attempting to identify the remains of those bodies recovered from their original resting place.

Fromelles will also feature in a future SPVA podcast, in which Ranald Leask of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission talks in some detail about the background to the project. Watch out for the release in the next couple of days!