Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

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, and later grew up to serve in World War 1 with the ANZACS.

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. The battalion was shipped to Egypt on the HMAT A19 Afric to train for a mere two months before they were on their way to Gallipoli, on the 12th of September. At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, (which included Thomas’s battalion) was reinforced with the New Zealanders and Australian that were there already[2]. The battalion were not heavily challenged by the war and left Gallipoli in December, with only light casualties. 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.Thomas was then sent in as reinforcements to The Battle of the Somme (also know as the Somme Offensive). This attack was one of the “bloodiest battles in human history, taking the lives or injuring nearly one million men[3]”. 3 million fought it out for 4 months, with it ending when an English commander called a halt to the offensive army near the Somme River in north western France.

During this battle, 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 who later died in 1934.

The way the ANZAC spirit is described as “having been born of egalitarianism and mutual support. According to the stereotype, the Anzac rejected unnecessary restrictions, possessed a sardonic sense of humour, was contemptuous of danger, and proved himself the equal of anyone on the battlefield.[4]” I believe that Thomas has shown qualities of this all throughout his life, and being 5ft-2, Thomas would have been faced with many challenges growing up, and he overcame them and came out a better man.

When you are apart of a war, all human morals and decisions are thrown out the window. You do not think about the consequences of what you are doing to others and how they might feel. The things that soldiers see during war can leave scars on the skin and underneath it, which could never be removed. Trenches were one of the worst places someone had to live in, because of the constant mud, rain, disease, death and cramping. Thomas and many others battled through these conditions with only some making it out alive.

Thomas knew when he was enlisting what he was in for, and he still did not back down. He risked his life for his country, and unfortunately paid the ultimate price. This in itself, shows ANZAC spirit when he was “contempt from danger” and he proved himself equal of anyone on the battlefield.

[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