The Eglinton brothers in Arms: Thomas
William (1672)
The second
of the Eglinton brothers to be featured in the lead up to 2022 Anzac Day is
Thomas William, service number 1672. Thomas was born in Forest Range and his
mother Elizabeth was originally listed as his next of kin, but this was changed
on his service record to his wife Florence. Thomas was a gardener and enlisted
on 29 February 1916. He was 30 years of
age, 5 and a half feet tall, had blue eyes and dark hair. His nominated
religion was Church of England.
After only 6 weeks of training, he departed
from Adelaide on the A60 ‘Aeneas’ on the 11th of April 1916 and headed
for Egypt with the newly formed 50th Battalion. On arrival to the
port of Suez on 14 May, he was admitted to hospital with measles.
Unfortunately, Thomas was plagued with illness and hospitalisations for the
whole period of his time in Europe with a range of medical conditions including
influenza, boils, jaundice and gunshot wounds.
He finally departed from Egypt headed for the western front via England on 18 November 1916. His time on the front lines in France was brief as not long after joining his unit he was again hospitalised with influenza and in December returned to England via Boulogne where he was treated in a number of hospitals on the Salisbury Plains. Over the period of late 1916/17, the troops endured the worst winter on record and the suffering endured in the trenches was compounded by the horrific cold. During this period, Thomas spent 3 months in the UK until he returned to France once more to re-join his unit on 20 March 1917.
At the start of 1917, the 50th battalion was engaged in ongoing activity on the Somme with major battles in Noreuil during March and April. Thomas was on the front lines for less than a month during these battles and on 2 April was wounded with a gunshot would to the leg. Once more he returned to England on 7 April from Boulogne and spent 5 months recuperating.
At the end
of September, he was to return to the field in time for the 3rd
battle of Ypres including the notorious Battle of Passchendaele. On 6 October
Thomas William Eglinton re-joined his unit to survive for 7 months. He was
killed in action on 9th May 1918 in the Villers Bretonneux region.
The 50th battalion were part of the allied forces that recaptured
this French village on Anzac Day 1918 and to this day the community of Villers
Bretonneux have never forgotten the Australians. The village school remembers
the Australian troops with a sign in their schoolyard stating… ‘Never Forget
Australia’. Thomas is buried in the
Adelaide Cemetery on the edge of the village, the town where the Dawn Service
is held on Anzac Day at the National Australian Memorial to the 11,000 missing
Australians on the Somme.
This year’s
Connecting Spirits Community tour group will visit his grave and share his
story and that of his brothers at the ‘Brothers in Arms’ memorial next to
Polygon Wood in Flanders. Rest in Peace dear Thomas .
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY MAL JURGS:
'After the battles of 1916 in the Somme, the German Army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line in March and April of 1917, followed closely by the British Army. The Germans used fortified villages as defensive positions to hold off the Allies, including Noreuil. It was here on the 2nd April that the 50th Battalion engaged in battle during which Pte. Thomas William Eglinton was wounded.'
3. Ecole Victoria, the local Villers Bretonneux school
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