The First World War cost over 60,000 Australians killed and 156,000 wounded. Little thought was given at the outset of the War to how information about casualties could be communicated quickly and sensitively to an anxious home front or the immense and lasting psychological damage that such carnage would produce. With the war over, efforts turned to a systematic attempt to find, identify and properly bury Australia's missing war dead. Not only was this effort motivated by the moral imperative 'To sanctify and hallow the memory' of this sacrifice, but also with a growing awareness of the importance in healing the mental anguish that would be the lasting legacy of the First World War. This paper looks in brief at the story of the effort to ease the psychological suffering of bereaved families, an effort that though at times beset by scandal and incompetence, is one that continues for the same motives to the present day.