Relatives of unrecovered soldiers (missing in action and/or presumed dead) are encouraged to register your details with Army. If in the future we are investigating a case that may involve your relative we need to be able to reach out to family for notifications, funerals and DNA sample requests to facilitate identification. Completing this form will record your details against the soldier to enable early contact should their remains be found.

UWC-A investigates all notifications of the discovery of human remains that are believed to be those of Australian soldiers. The unit also responds to reports or information that may lead to the recovery of human remains of Australian servicemen.

On 1 July 1942 the Montevideo Maru, carrying approximately 1060 prisoners of war, most of them Australian, was sunk by an Allied submarine.

Over 60,000 Australians gave their lives during The Great War. UWC-A continues to work towards finding those that have no known grave.

There are over 2000 Australian Servicemen who remain unaccounted for in Papua New Guinea from World War Two. Unrecovered War Casualties – Army works tirelessly to locate these soldiers and commemorate them appropriately.

In the centuries leading up to the outbreak of World War 2 Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Timor occupied strategic positions astride the strategic South East Asian trade routes. By the outbreak of war in the 1940s Britain was a predominant power and influence in the region. The entire area was a major source of valuable raw materials such as rubber, oil, tin, and timber. These materials were valuable assets to whatever nation controlled them and in the early 1940s it was Japan that wanted to wrest that control.

Unrecovered War Casualties – Army is leading The Korean War Project which aims to update the case files of all Australian soldiers who remain ‘missing in action, presumed dead’ from the Korean War.

At the end of the Vietnam War six Australian servicemen were still listed as “Missing in Action”. Between 2007 and 2009 Unrecovered War Casualties – Army successfully recovered four Soldiers and two Airmen. The remains were repatriated to Australia and laid to rest by their families, there are now no Australian Servicemen missing in Vietnam.

Unrecovered War Casualties – Army answers frequently asked questions.

For all general enquiries, please contact the UWC-A team.