Thomas Tait BLAKE

BLAKE, Thomas Tait

Service Number: 2573
Enlisted: 1 May 1916, 1 year 3rd Reg Infantry, D Company
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 1st Pioneer Battalion
Born: Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, Scotland., 26 September 1874
Home Town: Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Builders Labourer
Died: Illness (Broncho pneumonia), Fargo Military Hospital, Wiltshire, England, 12 December 1916, aged 42 years
Cemetery: Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire
Grave No. 128
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
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World War 1 Service

1 May 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2573, 1st Pioneer Battalion, 1 year 3rd Reg Infantry, D Company
24 Aug 1916: Involvement Private, 2573, 1st Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: ''
24 Aug 1916: Embarked Private, 2573, 1st Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Sydney

Help us honour Thomas Tait Blake's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Evan Evans

The summary below was completed by Cathy Sedgwick – Facebook “WW1 Australian War Graves in England/UK/Scotland/Ireland 

Died on this date – 12th December…… Thomas Tait Blake was born on 26th September, 1874 in Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, Scotland.

According to information supplied for the Roll of Honour by his next-of-kin he came to Australia when he was 4½ years old.

Thomas Tait Blake married Ruby October Pike in 1905 in Sydney, NSW. A birth was registered in 1906 in Sydney for Nellie M. Blake; a birth was registered in 1907 in Sydney for Harry C. Blake ; a death was registered in 1908 for Henry C. Blake ; in 1909, a birth was registered for Henry C. Blake & a birth was registered in Sydney in 1914 for Leslie Thomas Blake.

On 4th April, 1916 Thomas Tait Blake enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) as a 41 year old, married, Builder’s Labourer from 17 Sturt Street, Darlinghurst, NSW.

Private Thomas Tait Blake, Service number 2573, embarked from Sydney on HMAT Anchises (A68) on 24th August, 1916 & disembarked at Devonport, England on 12th October, 1916.

Reinforcements were only given basic training in Australia. Training was completed in training units in England. Some of these were located in the Salisbury Plain & surrounding areas in the county of Wiltshire.
On 7th December, 1916 Private Blake was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital, Wiltshire & was reported seriously ill on 11th December, 1916.

Private Thomas Tait Blake died at 10 a.m. on 12th December, 1916 of Broncho-pneumonia at Fargo Military Hospital, Wiltshire.

He was buried in Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire, England where 140 other WW1 Australian War Graves are located.

(The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below)
https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/a---c1.html

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