Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Charles Albert Thomlinson grew up in New South Wales, Sydney, and then moved to settle in Port Augusta, South Australia. Thomlinson worked as a journalist at Port Augusta before enlisting to go to war. He noted at enlistment that he had previous military service where he had served two years and two months in the Australian Infantry Battalion as a Private. At the time of enlistment, he was single, had no children and enlisted with a group of men from Port Augusta. His mother, Louise Thomlinson, lived in South Melbourne and was listed as his emergency contact. Charles was the eldest living child in a family of 9 siblings.
Thomlinson enlisted at Morphettville, Adelaide when he was 27 years and three months of age on 29th August 1914. He was assigned Regimental Number 850, and two days after he enlisted he was promoted to Sergeant. His younger brother, Roy Bishop Thomlinson, enlisted 15 days earlier on 12th August 1914 and departed as a Private in the Navy from Sydney.
Charles Albert Thomlinson trained at Morphettville for two months only before embarking on his journey to war aboard the HMAT Ascanius that was headed to Gallipoli. In training camp, they focused on physical fitness and routine to harden their mental toughness and their ability to break through the pain barrier. There was a shortage of equipment, so they made use of what was available such as broomsticks for guns. To break the boredom of training camp, they told jokes, laughed, sang songs and wrote letters.
Thomlinson was first posted to the 10th Infantry Battalion and arrived in Gallipoli on 19th July 1915, a few months after the first ANZACs landed on 25th April 1915. This would been a very difficult and confronting place to begin his infantry career, requiring great courage and perseverance due to the under-resourced campaign. They helped establish and defend the front line, with the 10th Battalion penetrating the furthest inland at Gallipoli during the initial fighting.
Whilst Thomlinson was fighting in Gallipoli he was promoted to Senior Sergeant in December 1915, and then Lieutenant in January 1917. The 10th Infantry Battalion eventually withdrew from Gallipoli and returned to Egypt for further training before sailing to France and fighting on the Western Front in the Battle of Amiens along the Somme Valley. He was promoted during this time to Captain in January 1918, just before transfer to the 27th Battalion in May 1918 at which time they participated in a string of offensive battles to push Germany closer to defeat. Shortly after, in June 1918, Thomlinson was transferred to the 25th Battalion who participated in battles at Morlancourt, Hamel, Amiens and along the Somme Valley. It was an exhausting year for the 25th Battalion, who were already terribly weak due to earlier casualties and lack of reinforcements.
Thomlinson endured his service with no significant injuries, but he suffered from tooth troubles in Gallipoli during August 1915 and was diagnosed with serious gum disease in Alexandria, Egypt, in October 1915, after which he was soon able to return to service. Thomlinson survived the disease and the war and returned home to South Australia by boat from London on 13th September 1918 and was discharged from military service on 8th March 1919. He received the 1914/15 Star Medal, the British War Medal and a Victory Medal. There is little known about what Thomlinson did when he returned to Australia for the two decades until his death. Thomlinson died in Bathurst, NSW, on 1st December 1939.
Additional research on Thomlinson’s family highlighted that his father was the highly esteemed manager of the Weekly Courier and Examiner Newspaper in Launceston however, his father died at the relatively young age of 51 years and 7 years before Charles enlisted for WWI. The exposure his father provided in newspapers may have assisted or sparked an interest in Thomlinson going into the profession of journalism.

References

Adfa.edu.au. (2024). Details. [online] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=298696 [Accessed 19 Sep. 2024].

Australian War Memorial (n.d.). | The Australian War Memorial. [online] www.awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51467.

Awm.gov.au. (2024a). Lieutenant Charles Albert Thomlinson. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10961403 [Accessed 19 Sep. 2024].

Awm.gov.au. (2024b). Roy Bishop Thomlinson. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2425149 [Accessed 19 Sep. 2024].

Familysearch.org. (2015). FamilySearch.org. [online] Available at: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/9V7T-K65/roy-bishop-thomlinson-1895-1948 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Terrace, V. (2024). View digital copy. [online] Naa.gov.au. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8099599 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].
Trove. (2014). THE LATE MR. THOMLINSON - EXPRESSIONS OF REGRET. - Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954) - 14 Jun 1907. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45817690?searchTerm=charles%20thomlinson# [Accessed 19 Sep. 2024].
Vwma.org.au. (2024). Charles Albert THOMLINSON. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/125234 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].
www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). 25th Australian Infantry Battalion. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51465.