Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Brayshaw was born in 1881, in Hartlepool, England (2). Thomas moved from England to Australia where he met and married Alice May Brayshaw. Thomas was a member of the Church of England, and throughout his life he worked as a a ship builder's boilermaker(2). Thomas bought his first house, on 19 Alfred Street, Norwood and then moved to 24 Charles Street, Norwood with his wife (4). Thomas had no children and there are no records of his parents or any siblings in any documents, apart from his first nominal roll, in which there were 5 other Brayshaws enlisted. However, since their names were never mentioned in any other documents, little more can be deduced about them.  

Thomas emabrked from Australia aboard the HT "Scotian"on 9 March 1916 arriving and disembarking in Alexandri on 18 May 1916.  Private Brayshaw was confined to hospital 2 days later finally being discharged and sent to join his unit in France on 11 August 1916. No long after had he arrived when he was admitted to the 7th Field Ambulance  on 16 Spetember 1916 with tonsilitis.  8 days later he was diagnoised with Trench Fever and was now in the 2nd Australian General Hospitl in Wimereux. After 2 further transfers at the end of September 1916 he was scheduled for transport to England for further medical attention. He was discharged on 16 NOvember 1916 for reassignment. He never returned to his Unit at the Western Front as his illnesses has clearly impacted on his general health adn well being. On 6 June 1917 he was returned home to Australia on medical ground with his Service Record indivated that he had defective eyesight.  He was officially discharged on the 20th of August, 1917.

Anzac Day is celebrated on the 25th of April each year because it was on that day in 1915 that Australian and New Zealand soldiers made an allied expedition to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Thomas showed exemplary Anzac spirit throughout his life on the Western Front. Merely enlisting showed a strong Anzac spirit in itself. Even when he ran away, at what was likely the lowest point in his life, he still came back by himself and accepted the punishment of 4 days in isolation. 

Little to nothing is known about Thomas after the war, though we know he got back safely to Australia. Thomas returned before the end of the war because he was medically unfit. There are many possibilities as to what could have happened to Thomas after the war; although there is a high likelihood that the his opportunities for work were affected by the fact that his illnesses had impacted on his eyesight (2). He joined the RSL not long after he returned and was a life member at the North Adelaide Sub-branch.

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[1] Casualty Form, Active service

[2] Attestation paper of persons enlisted for service abroad

[3] Medical check up form

[4] Registration, Alteration or change of address form

[5] Anzac Day commemoration website

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Bibliogrpahy

1)      https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3115133&isAv=N

2)      https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=strict&biw=1280&bih=643&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=LUeeWvfuB8r88AXCg46wAg&q=H.T+scotian+ship&oq=H.T+scotian+ship&gs_l=psy-ab.3...739143.739302.0.739532.2.2.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.0.0....0.LX5huKlqh_k#imgrc=9NDD0KwTW17BTM:

3)      https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/66794

4)      https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=strict&biw=1280&bih=643&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=4FCeWoDcD8S68QWhnoUI&q=H.S+David+ship&oq=H.S+David+ship&gs_l=psy-ab.3...61592.62276.0.62582.5.5.0.0.0.0.300.300.3-1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..4.0.0....0.VewQbp6WG04#imgrc=0vyT2lHbluqHFM

5)      https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Europe/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x46ed8886cfadda85:0x72ef99e6b3fcf079?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiatPHzqdfZAhWGwrwKHVGjBZ0Q8gEIJjAA

6)      https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10700887

7)      https://www.whitepages.com/name/Thomas-Brayshaw

8)      https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search

9)      https://www.awm.gov.au/people/roll-search

10)   https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/history/conflicts/gallipoli-and-anzacs/events/north-beach-and-sari-bair-range/evacuation-anzac

11)   http://himetop.wikidot.com/old-hopital-et-dispensaire-francais

12)   www.cfsnederland.nl/project/heilig-hart-iekenhuis-roeselare/

13)   https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac-day/traditions

14)    https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3115133&isAv=N

15)    https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=strict&biw=1280&bih=643&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=LUeeWvfuB8r88AXCg46wAg&q=H.T+scotian+ship&oq=H.T+scotian+ship&gs_l=psy-ab.3...739143.739302.0.739532.2.2.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.0.0....0.LX5huKlqh_k#imgrc=9NDD0KwTW17BTM:

16)       https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/66794

17)       https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=strict&biw=1280&bih=643&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=4FCeWoDcD8S68QWhnoUI&q=H.S+David+ship&oq=H.S+David+ship&gs_l=psy-ab.3...61592.62276.0.62582.5.5.0.0.0.0.300.300.3-1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..4.0.0....0.VewQbp6WG04#imgrc=0vyT2lHbluqHFM

18)       https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Europe/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x46ed8886cfadda85:0x72ef99e6b3fcf079?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiatPHzqdfZAhWGwrwKHVGjBZ0Q8gEIJjAA

19)       https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10700887

20)       https://www.whitepages.com/name/Thomas-Brayshaw