My tunic is rotten with other men's blood and partly splattered with a comrade's brains," Mr Raws wrote.During research in the lead up to the dig, Mr Wilkinson was amazed to discover he went to the same school as Raws, one of many personal connections between the archaeologists and the men whose stories they're working to uncover.This kind of foreign-led excavation is extremely rare in France, but Pozières locals like Yves Potard have gone out of their way to facilitate it.As the President of the historical group Franco-Australian Digger-cote 160 Association, Mr Potard has spent decades finding ways to commemorate the troops who died here."It is important that these excavations are carried out, because it will be a way to bring the diggers back to life in the memory," Mr Potard told the ABC.Ever since their town was rebuilt post-WWI, the people of Pozières have prioritised remembrance — something that was on full display on the 110th anniversary of the battle's beginning.Organised by Mr Potard, dozens of residents, local dignitaries and Australian visitors gathered near the town hall as the clock ticked towards midnight, on July 23.The group made their way to the Australian first division memorial on the edge of town for a formal service, which included a speech from Michael Lee.Mr Lee's uncle Leonard was one of the diggers who died on the first day of battle I've got to be there every year and remember my uncle," Mr Lee told the ABC.Mr Lee also expressed doubts about the need for an archaeological project in Pozières.While he understood the project's intent was to uncover artefacts, he was worried the dig might disturb the bodies of soldiers who died there."One-hundred-and-ten years these guys have been under the ground here