DWYER, Thomas
| Service Number: | 862 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ravenswood, Queensland, Australia, 16 January 1888 |
| Home Town: | Charters Towers, Charters Towers, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Dernancourt, France, 5 April 1918, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Townsville Railway Station Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 862, 5th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 862, 5th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 862, 5th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Star of England, Brisbane | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement Private, 862, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 862 awm_unit: 49th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-04-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Thomas Dwyer was the son of Thomas and Maria Dwyer of Charters Towers, Queensland. The parents had arrived in Queensland from Ireland during 1884.
He enlisted in Ayr, Queensland during 1914, giving his mother, Maria Dwyer as next of kin.
Thomas served with the 5th Light Horse Regiment on Gallipoli from 29 July 1915. He was evacuated sick to Malta the end of August 1915. He arrived back at Anzac on the 25 October 1915 and was severely wounded on 12 December 1915. Thomas was evacuated to Egypt with bomb wounds to his head and left side. The head wounds were still troubling him in August 1916 and he was sent to England from Egypt for treatment.
By this time his younger brother, 4569 Pte. William John Dwyer 26th Battalion AIF had been killed in action at Pozieres, at 19 years of age.
Thomas joined the 49th Battalion in France during February 1917 and served right through until he lost his life during the 49th Battalion’s courageous counter attack against a German breakthrough at Dernancourt during April 1918.
Thomas had his next of kin as his mother, Maria Dwyer, which was officially changed in his service file to mother, Mrs. M.J. Cowan as she had remarried during 1916. He made a will in favour of his father Thomas Dwyer of Charters Towers, during June 1917.
After the war, his medals and entitlements were noted as to go to his mother who had remarried, Mrs. Cowan, who was living on a station near Winton in Western Queensland.
Evidently, she could not be traced as Thomas’s medals, plaque and scroll were in December 1922 marked as ‘untraceables’, indicating that no nearest of kin could be found. His brother William’s medals were also never issued.