DNA puts Aussie soldier's name on remains from WWI grave
A Perth family's 25-year search to find their missing uncle, a soldier from World War I, has come to an end.
The federal government has confirmed the remains from a grave discovered in 2006 at Westhoek, in Belgium, are those of 21-year-old farmhand Private George Storey, from Perth.
Private Storey's nephew David Storey says he was first contacted by the Army history unit 18 months ago, but it has taken all that time to confirm the identification.
"They said they had found the bodies and ... they were pretty sure who the bodies were," Storey said at his home in Menora yesterday. "They wanted to do DNA testing to prove them. "But unfortunately at the time the DNA tests that were available, they had to have someone [from the] female line available ... [but] there was no female line, so they couldn't do it.
"Since then they've developed a new test that works on the male line and that worked."
A swab was taken from Storey in April this year and federal authorities contacted him on Tuesday to confirm the identity. Storey said the news was still sinking in.
Read entire article at New Zealand Herald
The federal government has confirmed the remains from a grave discovered in 2006 at Westhoek, in Belgium, are those of 21-year-old farmhand Private George Storey, from Perth.
Private Storey's nephew David Storey says he was first contacted by the Army history unit 18 months ago, but it has taken all that time to confirm the identification.
"They said they had found the bodies and ... they were pretty sure who the bodies were," Storey said at his home in Menora yesterday. "They wanted to do DNA testing to prove them. "But unfortunately at the time the DNA tests that were available, they had to have someone [from the] female line available ... [but] there was no female line, so they couldn't do it.
"Since then they've developed a new test that works on the male line and that worked."
A swab was taken from Storey in April this year and federal authorities contacted him on Tuesday to confirm the identity. Storey said the news was still sinking in.