Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

22nd Brigade,  Australian Field Artillery

He was 25 and the son of Peter and Ellen Greenan, of 12, Loretto Terrace, Springfield Rd., Belfast, Ireland.

Gunner Greenan is commemorated on the Great War war memorial in Castlebellingham, County Louth, Ireland.

From François Berthout

Gunner 6950 Thomas Joseph Greenan
22nd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade,
Australian Field Artillery
 
In the north of France, poppies grow and in the Somme, sway in peaceful waves through the white cities in which thousands of young men rest in peace under the shadows of their white graves on which the sun illuminates their names which tell us the stories of heroes who, for their country and for France, gave their youth and their lives in the trenches and the battlefields today silent and peaceful but who were, more than a hundred years ago, a real hell on earth in which millions of men fought and fell for the freedom and peace in which we live and in which, with respect and care, with love and gratitude, we will watch over them and share their stories so that they never cease to live,so that they are never forgotten.

Today, it is with gratitude and the deepest respect that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Gunner number 6950 Thomas Joseph Greenan who fought in the 22nd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery and who was killed in action 105 years ago, on July 31, 1916 at the age of 25 on the Somme front.

Thomas Joseph Greenan was born in 1891 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, and was the son of Ellen and Peter Greenan, of 12 Loretto Terrace, Springfield Road, Belfast, Ireland.As a boy, Thomas was a very good horseman who had developed his equestrian skills alongside his father.In 1910, at the age of 19, Thomas emigrated to Australia in the hope of greater economic opportunities and lived at 88 Pickles Street, South Melbourne, Victoria, where he worked as a dispatch clerk.

Thomas enlisted on July 3, 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria, as a Gunner in Field Artillery Brigade 4, Brigade Ammunition Column of the Australian Field Artillery and with this contingent of 900 men and 200 horses, he embarked from Melbourne, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on November 18, 1915 and proceeded to join the MEF (Meditteranean Expeditionary Force) in Egypt.

On December 15, 1915, Thomas was disembarked in Suez then three months later, on March 8, 1916, was transferred to the 19th Battery of the Brigade Ammunition Column at Tel-El-Kebir and on March 14, proceeded to join the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) to Alexandria where he embarked the same day and proceeded overseas for France.

A few days later, on March 19, 1916, Thomas was disembarked with his unit in Marseilles and sent to the front. Two months later, on April 13, he was transferred to the 22nd Field Artillery Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery but unfortunately , Thomas' war was short and two months later, on July 31, 1916, while he was fighting in the Somme, with the men of his battery in Mametz, near Pozieres, he met his fate and was killed in action, he was 25 years old.
Today, Thomas Joseph Greenan rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "May the most sacred heart of Jesus have mercy on his soul."
Thomas, you who gave your life alongside your comrades with whom you served and fought proudly in the trenches of the Somme, today I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done for we, for Australia and France which owes you so much, two countries united in the most beautiful and strong friendship that was born in the trenches between Diggers and Poilus, today we are united around you in solemn remembrance to offer you our deepest respects and to tell you that we will never forget who you were nor what you endured and lost in the battlefields, friends, brothers who, by your side, fought, gave their youth and gave their all for our freedom , to live without being afraid of the next day when so many young men lived side by side in the darkness of the trenches, under the barbed wire, under an outburst of violence and brutality that was the great war and lived every day with in their hearts, the fear of never seeing the sun rise again, of never seeing their loved ones again for whom they fought with so much bravery and coolness through shells and bullets, they stood with determination in the force of their camaraderie, united with each other in the darkest hours of history but wrote the most glorious pages of Australia, men for whom I feel the greatest pride and who will always have my heart, my devotion and my admiration.I would always follow their footsteps with respect, to learn from them, to understand what they went through here in the Somme where I live in peace thanks to their courage and their sacrifices and where, in courageous and determined assaults, to help the French people, gave their lives, they were deeply loved, admired, considered to be our sons and today, more than a hundred years later, in our hearts, nothing has changed, we feel for these young Australians, the deepest love with which we will always honor their memory and became my boys, my sons, my boys of the Somme on whom I would always watch so that what they did here for us are never forgotten.Amiens, Villers-Bretonneux, Pozieres, we live with Australia in our hearts, Australia that we will never forget.Today, united side by side as they were behind their batteries, in the trenches and in the battlefields, they rest in peace and silence, standing proudly, smiling while watching over the sacred grounds of France on which they paid the supreme sacrifice, they smile because they see that they have not and will never be forgotten.We will always remember them for what they were, exceptional men who thought they were ordinary men but who were all real heroes, men before they were soldiers, who had a life, a family.Their stories are our History, they are our present and help us understand to build our tomorrow together and to protect the peace for which they gave their lives, this peace, their stories are their legacy that they passed on to us just like the flame of remembrance that for them and their families, I would always carry high and proud so that they will live forever and never be forgotten.Thank you so much Thomas,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.