William Edward Thomas

Submitted by Mt Kembla Minin... on Sat, 22/04/2017 - 11:13

First Name:

William

Middle Name:

Edward

Last Name:

Thomas

Mother's Name:

Margaret Thomas

Father's Name:

William Thomas

Date Enlisted:

Monday, October 12, 1914

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Private

Unit:

2nd Australian General Hospital / Field Ambulance

Awards:

1914/1915 Star

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Place of Death:

Randwick, N.S.W.

Cause of Death:

War related

Details:

William Thomas (Service No 768) was born in Glamorgan, Wales around 1893. The date of his arrival in Australia is unknown.

At enlistment, William was single, 21 years old, worked as a miner and lived at Bulli, N.S.W. He embarked from Sydney on HMAT A55 Kyarra with Australian General Hospital No 2 on 28th November 1914.

He arrived in Egypt but it is unclear if he went to Gallipoli. William suffered a number of hospital admissions due to sea sickness, measles, food poisoning and a bout of scarlet fever.

He arrived in France on 6th April 1916 and was posted to 1st Field Ambulance on 3rd October 1916.

William saw service on the Western Front. On 14th June 1917 he was transferred to No 18 Dental Unit.

William was gassed at Messines in December 1917.

He was returned to Australia in August 1919 and discharged medically unfit from the AIF on 9th December 1920.

William received treatment for his injury in hospital in Australia for some time and died at Randwick in 1924.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, THOMAS W E