John Westerman believes his uncle, who was reported missing in the First World War while fighting on the Western Front, may be one of 400 Allied troops buried in a recently discovered mass grave at Fromelles.

Arthur Couldwell was a young British soldier who was declared missing in action after heavy fighting between Allied and German soldiers at Fromelles on July 19, 1916.

The Battle of Fromelles is often described as the worst 24 hours in Australian military history.

In one day and one night, 5533 casualties were recorded, including more than 1700 dead.

German machine gun fire was so heavy during the battle, some of the Allied troops were cut in half.

Last year archaeologists working at Fromelles discovered six mass graves containing at least 400 bodies. A project to identify all the bodies through DNA testing is already underway.

“The contract for provision of DNA collection, testing and analysis was awarded to British company LGC Forensics and signed on June 15,” a spokesperson for the Department said.

“Australia and Britain have agreed to a pilot study of DNA extraction from a small cross-section of remains to determine viability of a comprehensive testing program.

“A decision on whether to attempt DNA matching with current living relatives will be informed by the success of the pilot. Results are expected in July.

“If samples from the remains are viable, DNA samples are anticipated to be collected from relatives of those who may be buried at Pheasant Wood in late 2009.”

It’s the news John and his family have been waiting for.

“I got a call from a girl at the War Office to say my uncle may have been one of the soldiers found in the grave,” Mr Westerman said.

“His body was never found and it nearly killed my mother, who was a trained nurse and had intentions of going to France to help injured soldiers until she found out her brother was missing in action.”