Frederick Thomas' story begins when he was born on 3rd March, 1897 in Broome, Western Australia. Thomas was raised by his parents along with his two brothers, Bert and Charlie; Thomas was the youngest sibling. As a child, Thomas studied at Highgate Hill State School in Western Australia. Frederick’s father was a highly qualified police inspector, and his mother, like most women of that time worked at home. As a young man, Thomas was employed to work in a bank keeping records and accounts, his role  was called a clerk. Thomas remained in this position until his enlistment (RSL Virtual War Memorial 2017).

 

On Thomas’s 18th birthday he decided to follow his two brothers to the Western Front to fight in the war for Australia. Thomas enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) on 12th March 1915. This was in Geraldton, Western Australia. After being accepted into the armed forces and before travelling by ship to the Western Front, Thomas underwent several months of training to prepare him and others for what lay ahead. Thomas was quite athletic and a particularly fast runner; his commanding officers saw this as an asset and when he enlisted they commissioned him as a runner to relay messages back and forth to the commanders of different units (RSL Virtual War Memorial 2017).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Portrait of Thomas (Macgregor, 2017)

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Frederick had been fighting on the Western Front, when he was sadly killed in Pozieres, France on 29th July 1916. He died during battle when as he was running messages between trenches; the role that officers had given him. He had been there barely twelve months and was just 19 years of age. His brothers, sadly Bert and Charlie, also died during the war at that time; one can only imagine the sense of grief and loss his family felt at losing three sons (RSL Virtual War memorial 2017). Thomas was buried in Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Cemetery.

 

He has also been acknowledged on other memorials such as the Australian War Memorial and The Roll of Honour. His sacrifice and that of his brothers must be acknowledged along with the many young Australian ANZACs who fought so bravely during World War One.  

                                                                       

Reference List

Macgregor, B. (2017). RSL Virtual War Memorial. Available at: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/125623 [Accessed 28 September 2017].