FILE – This July 12, 1999, file photo shows a portion of the two floors of the Mutter Museum, a medical museum in Philadelphia. Australian politician Lynda Voltz is pushing for the Mutter Museum to return the skull of an unknown Australian soldier shot and killed in World War I, and the museum said Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, it's in talks with the Australian Army but can't comment on whether the skull will be returned. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File)
Republished October 03, 2017 - 12:43 PM
Original Publication Date October 03, 2017 - 12:06 PM
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia medical museum says the skull of an Australian soldier who was shot in World War I and died days later will be returned to the Australian Army.
The Mutter (MOO'-ter) Museum says a military attache for the Australian Embassy will meet with museum officials in the coming weeks to take the skull.
The military attache, Brig. Shane Gabriel, says in a letter to the museum that the remains are those of 27-year-old Pvt. Thomas Hurdis, of New South Wales.
Tuesday's announcement comes on the 100th anniversary of the soldier's death.
Hurdis was wounded Sept. 28, 1917, during the Battle of Polygon Wood in Belgium. He died five days later.
Australian politician Linda Voltz has been pushing for the skull's return. She says it is "reprehensible" that it took so long for the museum to act.
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This story has been corrected to show the announcement came on the 100th anniversary of the soldier's death, not days before the anniversary.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017