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Gordon Watson, an 87 year
old pensioner and Russell's
descendant, will also attend
the
ceremony at the British Commonwealth military
cemetery in Alexandria.
“This is the first battleground
cemetery from Nelson's time. It's absolutely
unique,” said Nick Slope, who chairs the Nelson Society.
“The discovery has not only allowed us to
recover the remains
of British servicemen
and women who fought and
died for their country. It has extended
our
knowledge
about social conditions in
Nelson's navy.”
The remains were unearthed
by Paolo Gallo, an Italian
archaeologist. An expert in the Greco-Roman era, Dr Gallo
chanced upon the first skeleton
as he searched for Ptolemaic
ruins on the islet in Abu Qjr bay
near the mouth of the Nile.
After spending more than three
years
poring over
Nelson's logs and muster books at
the Public Records Office in Kew,
south-west London, Mr Slope
managed to match the names with
some of the remains.
“After finding Russell's baptismal
certificate, I was able to
establish his age and when he died and
match that with the information
on his coffin,” the naval historian said.
“What was really surprising was finding
the remains of women. Previously, it was
thought that Nelson's ships
were all-male preserves. The
fact that they had women who
served on board sheds new
and revealing light on how his navy
operated.”
The 1798 Battle of the Nile established
Nelson, the son of a Norfolk
parson, as the pre-eminent admiral of his time
and is widely seen as his finest
hour.
Overnight the British annihilated
their French foes, lined
up behind the island in the
bay. All but two of Napoleon's
battleships were either captured
or destroyed - not least the 120-gun
L'Orient which blew up in the
middle of the battle with the loss
of hundreds of lives.
After their defeat by the
British, who went on to become
a colonial power in Egypt,
French forces surrendered in
September 1801.
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