Embarkation Roll
Thomas William Rawnsley
Thomas Rawnsley (Service No. 6088) was born in Wollongong. He enlisted at Liverpool when he was 33 years old. At this time he lived in Campbell Street, Wollongong and was working as a labourer. Thomas named his wife, Victoria Roseann Rawnsley (nee Handley), as his next of kin.
On 22 August 1916 Thomas sailed from Sydney Harbour on the "Wiltshire", disembarking at Plymouth, England, on 13 October 1916, before proceeding overseas to France on the S.S. Arundel in December that year.
Thomas was wounded in action in France on 6 October 1917. He returned to Australia in February 1918.
Thomas Rawnsley's name can be seen on the Wollongong Centoaph commemorating his service to the country.
Thomas's grandson states that Thomas was married twice, had 3 children, and that he died in Sydney in about the 1950s and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery.