On the edge of a wood near the northern French village of Fromelles, archaeologists are seeking to uncover a suspected mass grave of hundreds of Australian and British troops from World War I. A high fence surrounds the site in the middle of fields of ripening wheat and Australian soldiers stand guard at the entrance as experts work under sheeting to shed light on one of the great mysteries of the Western Front. From outside all that can be seen is the arm of an excavator turning up the earth, which is then carefully examined by members of Glasgow University's Archaeological Research Division (GUARD). The battle of Fromelles, on July 19 and 20, 1916, was the baptism of fire for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the Western Front. Intended to divert the Germans from the ongoing Battle of the Somme, it was a costly failure.