Recent archaeology Anxiety followed by relief to find long-lost uncle

TIM WHITFORD has been to Pheasant's Wood, the tiny wooden copse in the wheat fields below the French village of Fromelles, many times.

But yesterday, as archaeologists embarked on the second day of their meticulous dig into the German-built mass grave, his breath caught and thoughts of his long-lost great uncle, Private Harry Willis, brought tears to his eyes.

Accompanied by his wife, Liz, and daughter Alexandra, 8, Mr Whitford, the burly security manager from Tallarook, Victoria, has spent years searching for Uncle Harry, one of his nan's 14 children who died in the ferocious battle of Fromelles on July 19, 1916.