More than a century ago, an Australian soldier was killed in the Negev.

Now, dozens of Israelis are searching for his grave

Lodan Cochran fell in 1917 during World War I in a battle for the conquest of the country.

His mother's wish was to find out where her son was buried.

This week, a search operation by Israelis began near Kibbutz Ruhama in the south in order to locate his grave.

"This is a soldier who fought and was killed for the liberation of the country and his burial place must be found."

Eli Ashkenazi

13/06/2022

Monday, 13 June 2022, 13:28 Updated: 22:40

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Thirty people walked side by side, at measured intervals, all holding metal detectors.

This strange spectacle was seen yesterday, on a hot Saturday, in the hills near Kibbutz Ruhama in the northern Negev.

Occasionally one of the marchers bent down and after digging in the ground pulled out of the ground a rusty backpack of a rifle bullet, a metal button and even a backpack of a German shell.

These were silent remnants of a bloody battle that took place at the site 105 years ago, between Australian cavalry and soldiers of the Ottoman army.

The searchers hoped that among the many finds they would also find those belonging to a certain person - an Australian soldier who was killed in this area more than a hundred years ago.

Early in the morning, on November 8, 1917, in a wadi north of Be'er Sheva, Australian warriors galloped on their horses on their way north after conquering Be'er Sheva.

A heavy artillery attack awaited the surprised cavalry and many of them were wounded.

Among those killed was an Australian soldier, a native of Ireland.

Loden Park Cochran his name.

He was 24 at the time of his death.

Fell at the age of 24. Australian soldier Lodan Kokren (Photo: Official website, Gan Erez)

The next day his friends performed a burial ceremony for him, accompanied by a priest.

They were photographed near the temporary tomb, wrote a short report on the location of the tomb and continued on their way north to continue the battles for the conquest of the Land of Israel.

At the end of the battles for the conquest of the land, about a year later, they returned to search for the temporary tomb, but were unable to locate it.

The Australian Army paid a heavy price in the First World War.

Lodan Park Cochran was one of about 60,000 Australian soldiers killed in the war.

He too had a mother who wanted to know where her son's grave was.

In 1923, she sent a letter to the Australian Army requesting that a bereaved mother be given information about her son's burial site, but her wish was not granted and the burial site was not located.

Now, 99 years after the bereaved mother has raised her plea, a search operation has begun for Israeli citizens who want to locate the grave of the Australian soldier.

"For me it's such a clear thing, I can not understand who is asking me why we are making such an effort," explained Gan Erez, who coordinated the group of seekers.

"If it was a search for Eli Cohen, Ron Arad or Guy Hever, they would not be surprised at the strong desire to find them. For me, this is a soldier who fought and was killed for the liberation of the country and his burial place must be found," he explained.

"Feels like the letter the mother wrote is addressed to me today."

The search near Kibbutz Ruhama (Photo: Official website, Erez Garden)

The search began with a phone call she received a few years ago from Ola Hadar, a member of Kibbutz Ruhama, from an Australian citizen, Donald Cochran, who came to visit Israel and asked to find his grandfather's fireplace.

Hadar is considered an expert on the subject of the battles fought by Anzac fighters in the Negev in late 1917. Anzac were Australian and New Zealand Army troops who fought in World War I in Europe and the Middle East, along with the "Consent Countries".

As part of her volunteer activities at the JNF, Hadar began to take an interest in the battles for the conquest of the country at the end of the First World War, which took place in her area of ​​residence, and especially in the stories of the victims of the battles. Was the reason why the guide at Anzak's memorial site in Be'er Sheva approached her to help locate the Australian soldier's grave.

It was a battle that took place very close to the kibbutz, Ruhama, in an area she knows well.

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The main problem that arose in her research was the attempt to understand what the writers of the burial report meant when they mentioned the place "Gemma" as their point of reference.

The report states that he was buried on the side of a wadi whose route is north-south, 112 degrees from a well, a mile and a half southwest of Jamma.

It turns out that "Gemma" is associated with a number of landmarks in the area - three wells, including one from the Byzantine period, are so named, as well as a site called "Khirbet Gemma".

Using a photo taken the day after the battle in which the cavalry are seen watering their horses in a place described as "Gemma", Hadar identified a building known from "Havat Ruhama", a place from the days of the first Jewish settlement in the northern Negev, established in 1911.

This identification helped her point to the area where the temporary grave of Australian soldier Lodan was probably excavated.

Following the findings of the investigation, the search operation was conducted last Saturday.

The expectation was to find metal items belonging to Lodan.

Prior to the operation, long coordinations were required, because this is a nature reserve.

The military attaché of Australia in Israel also arrived in the search area.

Soldier's Funeral, 1917 (Photo: Official Website, Virtual War Memorial Australia)

Dozens of items from the battle in question were found during eight hours of searches, but none of them belonged to the Lodan soldier.

"I see the day of the search as a great success," Erez said, explaining:

This grave is also found, we will not give up. "

He said," I feel we owe it to this soldier.

Three days after he fell in battle, General Allenby and his soldiers had already marched inside Jerusalem.

"They liberated the Land of Israel from Ottoman rule that lasted 400 years and I feel that the letter written by the bereaved mother 99 years ago asking to locate her son's grave is addressed to me today."

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