COCKRUM, Thomas Gabriel
| Service Numbers: | 1627, 1627A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Burra, South Australia, Australia, 25 September 1891 |
| Home Town: | Maylands (SA), Norwood Payneham St Peters, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Prince Alfred College Adelaide |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Warlancourt, France, 26 March 1917, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kent Town Prince Alfred College 'Nobly Striving, Nobly Fell' Roll of Honour, Norwood St Bartholomew's Anglican Church Honour Roll, Norwood War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1627, 27th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 27th Infantry Battalion | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1627, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Mar 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1627A, 27th Infantry Battalion, The Outpost Villages - German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line, KIA Warlancourt :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1627A awm_unit: 27 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-03-26 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 1627, 27th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Private Thomas Gabriel Cockrum was born on the 25th of September 1891, to Annie Beatrice and Thomas Cockrum in a small town north of Adelaide called Burra. He grew up with four sisters on his father’s property.
For his early years, Thomas attended Prince Alfred College in Kent town SA. His schooling life taught him the ways of Methodism, and he continued with this religion throughout his time. His life as a labourer brought him many opportunities and when he turned 22, he met and married Mary Madelene Russel in Maylands, South Australia[1]. After two years of a happy marriage, Thomas made the decision to join the current war on the 4th of January 1916, when he was 24.
Thomas was entered into the 27th Infantry Battalion. The 27th Infantry Battalion had originally left Australia on the 9th June 1915. Thomas joined his battalion later in France in September 1916. In November, he picked up a terrible bug that gave him life threatening dysentery and he was immediately admitted to a hospital in France.
After recovering from the sickness, he returned to his unit where they would enter front-line trench warfare. On the 26th of March 1917, Thomas and his battalion were stationed in a trench when a shell was dropped directly onto him. “It blew his body 20 ft into the air, killing him instantly.” Said one of the eyewitnesses in his crew, P.W Hertbert. His belongings and paperwork were sent back to South Australia, to his wife Mary Madelene Cockrum.
[1] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cockrum-559
[2] https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51467
[3] https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme [4] https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/dawn/spirit
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