Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Tom enlisted with the 35th Battalion 1st AIF ( Newcastles own) in1916 and sailed to England and then on to France . In the early morning of the second battle of Villers-Bretonneux the German forces fired gas artillery at the rear lines of Australians forming in the rear and Tom became one of nearly 2000 casualties .Most of the victims suffered burns and blindness .He was evacuated to England and spent nearly a year in recovery including time in oil baths to heal the gas burns . On return to Australia he settled in Elizabeth Street Waterloo with his wife Mary and had their only child John (Jack) .Jack married Shirley Counter in the 1950,s and had 4 children Steven ,Gai Paul and Kim. Tom was assisted with the onset of his declining sight by Saint Dunstans society with the help Braille clocks and tape reader books . Tom lived in Waterloo until the last part of his life when the terrace house he rented opposite Mt Carmel church )was sold by the government and he moved to Malabar . He rests with Mary in the Eastern suburbs memorial cemetery.