Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Alfred FEATHERSTONE was born in Quorn, South Australia on 7th March, 1897

His parents were Alfred FEATHERSTONE & Elizabeth Margaret STOTHERS

He previously served in the 79th Senior Cadets and was transferred to the 79th Infantry where he was still serving when he enlisted for WW1 on 28th April, 1916 - he embarked with the 50th Infantry Battalion, 6th Reinforcements on the ship Port Melbourne on 23rd October, 1916

Thomas returned to Australia on 23rd July, 1918 on the ship Karoola and was discharged on 22nd March, 1919

He died on 29th August, 1923 in Malvern, Adelaide and is buried in the AIF Cemetery in West Terrace, Adelaide

                         ALWAYS REMEMBERED

Thoms Alfred (Darcy) Featherstone was born in Quorn, South Australia in March 1897. Featherstone was a bank clerk before enlisting in the war and served in the 79th Senior Cadets and was later transferred to the 79th Infantry. He served in the 50th Infantry Battalion as a Private and was later transferred to the Australian Army Ordnance Corps. (A.A.O.C.) Featherstone was the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Margret Featherstone. Featherstone’s Next of kin (Margret) lived in Barnstaple, Glyde Street Kensington, South Australia then later moved to St Peters in South Australia. He attended Christian Brothers College and North Adelaide Public School. His name is listed on the North Adelaide public school Roll of Honour, commemorating former students who served in The First World War. Featherstone was 5 feet and 7 ½ inches tall, with a medium complexion, brown hair, and brown eyes. His religious Denomination was the Church of England.

Featherstone served in both the 50th Infantry Battalion, as well as the A.A.O.C. in the 4th military division. His total service time mounted to 2 years and 329 days, and his total service abroad was for 1 year and 317 days. Featherstone joined the war on the 28th of April 1916 and enlisted for service in Adelaide South Australia at the age of 19 years and 1 month. Featherstone began training in 1916 at Mitcham Training Camp located in Adelaide which was a camp that accommodated over 4,000 soldiers, training for the war. Training included field patrols, bomb-throwing, trench digging, and much more. Featherstone trained there for 2 weeks, from the 1st of May 1916 to the 15th of May 1916 also attending Dig school in Mitcham.

In the early times of training, Featherstone went to Mitcham Clearing Hospital and Military Hospital in Keswick. The illnesses he suffered from included Influenza, Pleurisy, and Tubercle of the lung (T.B.) which are all lung-related diseases. As stated in medical reports, the origin of Featherstone’s diseases of Pleurisy and T.B. originated in 1916, in Australia. Featherstone also possessed a disability called Pes Carves, which is when the arch of the foot is very high. As stated in a medical report written on the 22nd of November 1917, Featherstone’s disability originated from birth. Featherstone displayed feelings of pain on his medical report. It wrote “He has only done 2 days of infantry drill since enlistment. He says both feet ache and cramp as soon as he walks. He was taken off by his Commanding Officer last October on light duty.” Due to his health and disabilities, only 5 days after Featherstone marched into the 12th training battalion from the 13th training battalion on the 16th of April 1918 Featherstone was permanently unfit for general service and instead was fit for home service.

Featherstone’s first embarkation was on H.M.T (His Majesty’s Transport) A16 (Later named Port Melbourne) from Adelaide, which he boarded on the 23rd of October 1916, as a signaller. Signallers were responsible for military communications telling wartime commanders where their troops were, what they were doing, and whether they had sufficient supplies. He Disembarked at Devonport, England on the 28th of December 1916. Featherstone then started training in the 13th Training Battalion on the 28th of June 1917. He later trained with the 50th Battalion at No.1 Command Depot, which was a training camp located in Sutton Veny on the 23rd of January 1918. Featherstone continued to train in Codford, England where he Marched in from the 13th Training Battalion to the 12th Training Battalion on the 11th of April 1918. Soon after, Featherstone was transferred from the 12th training battalion to the A.A.O.C in Codford on the 23rd of May 1918. Later, Featherstone was ‘Taken on Strength’ Under A.I.F. order from the 50th Battalion to the A.A.O.C on the 26th of May 1918, meaning that he would no longer be a part of the 50th Battalion.

Although Featherstone served in the 50th battalion, he wasn’t involved much in the activity of the 50th battalion, due to being transferred to the A.A.O.C on the 23rd of May 1918 and was ‘Taken on Strength’ to the A.A.O.C on the 26th of May 1918. This meant that Featherstone only served in the 50th Battalion for around 1 year and 4 months (One-third of his service time), spending most of his time in the A.A.O.C.

 The first time that Featherstone was sent to the hospital due to being sick was on the 3rd of June 1918, just less than a month after being transferred to the A.A.O.C. It is unsure of the order of these events as they all happened on the same day, but Featherstone was transferred across 3 different hospitals: Group Hospital, Codford, 1st Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, and 3rd New Zealand General Hospital, all due to Pleurisy. Featherstone was then transferred to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital on the 25th of June 1918, after staying at the 3rd New Zealand Hospital Codford for 22 days.

A month after being transferred to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital, on the 23rd of July 1918, Featherstone Returned to Australia on the D15 for Discharge from London. This was due to Tubercule of Lung, and Pleurisy. He then disembarked on the 4th of September 1918 on the HS (Hospital ship) Karoola. Finally, on the 22nd of March 1819, Featherstone was discharged due to being medically unfit.  

Featherstone was awarded the British War Medal, which was given to those soldiers who had fought for a minimum period of service. After returning to Australia for around 4 years and 5 months from his discharge date, Featherstone sadly died on the 29th of August 1923, at Malvern, South Australia, at the age of 26, due to illness. Featherstone’s tombstone is located at the AIF Cemetery, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide South Australia.