Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sergeant Thomas Archibald Neilson
 
Thomas Archibald Neilson was the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Neilson (née Graham), born on 29 December 1877 in Bendigo, Victoria. He enlisted (Regimental No. 3827) into the Expeditionary Force of the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) in Bendigo, on the 16  November 1915, age 37 years and stated his occupation as  Mining Engine Driver.[1];[2]
 
Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and eight months later, Australian troops fought alongside the British at Gallipoli, on the 25 April 1915 at Anzac Cove. Following substantial battle losses at Gallipoli, the British Government called for a major recruitment drive, and with the formation of the Miner’s Corps., men like Thomas enlisted.[3];[4];[5]
Thomas at 37 years, could enlist as the age limit was lifted to 50 years to fulfill quotas for the Mining Corps. Thomas was assigned to No. 5 Tunnelling Company[6]and was quickly promoted to Sergeant during his ten-week training period at the 16thDepot Battalion headquarters in Broadmeadows, where he was taught rudimentary mining warfare.[7]
 
Embarking from Port Melbourne, Thomas and 374 other men, sailed on H.M.A.T. A69, “Warilda" on the 25 May 1916[8], disembarking at Plymouth, England on the 18 July 1916. They proceeded via train to Tidworth Camp in Perham Downs. On 28 August 1916, after four days’ leave, Thomas proceeded overseas to France and entrained into the 2ndAustralian Divisional Base Depot at Etaples, marching in on 30 August 1916. Thomas’s commanding officer, Captain Percy Wagstaff in his War diary states:
“  Several times a week the Company spent the whole day at No.1 Training Camp, locally known as the “Bull-ring” where excellent instruction was received in Bomb-throwing, Bayonet fighting, Gas Helmets, Machine Gun work and so forth, the whole being of a thorough nature and after the very latest advice from the Front”.[9]
 
As the Battles of the Somme raged on through October 1916, Thomas, now based at Brigade Headquarters in the hamlet of La Clytte, St Eloi, he is jointly assigned to 1stANZAC Entrenching Battalion.[10]And the 1stCanadian Tunnelling Company also based in La Clytte, St Eloi[11]. Here, repairs to the Power Station, as well as works on the Pioneers Tunnels and The Bluff Gallery, which were some of the first mines that the tunneling companies worked on at the Western Front in Belgium,[12][13]Which lead to the Battle of Messines. It is noted that Thomas spent two days in February 1917 recovering from Scabies.[14]
 
Many transfers transpire as Thomas is taken on strength with the 2ndAustralian Tunnelling Company on 26 January 1917 and then the 3rdDivision Pioneers, which were an Australian Infantry and light engineer unit in the A.I.F. Thomas was assigned[15]To the 3rdPioneers (Army Engineers), raised in 1916, and were engaged in every action of the 3rdDivision, including Messines and Third Ypres.[16]
 
On 6 April 1917, he transfers to the 3rdPioneer Battalion. He is taken on strength by the 2ndAustralian Tunnelling Company. Soon after the 3rdPioneers saw action at the Battle of Messines in June 1917, where the capture of the Messines- Wytschaete Ridge, through a series of explosions ripping significant gaps in the German line.[17][18]
 
On the 5 August 1917, he reverts to the position of Corporal at his request. During this period, the 3rdPioneer Battalion was involved in the Third Battle of Ypres/Battle of Passchendaele, a major British offensive, where drainage works were conducted by the engineers. The battalion also attended a review held by Sir Douglas Haig.[19]He is re-allocated regimental number 3827A.[20] He is then detached from duty with the 3rdPioneer Battalion and marched in from France to the A.I.F. Depot, England.
 
From 1 October 1917, he spends three months training at the Non-Commissioned Officers base at Jellalabad Barracks, Tidworth, England.
On the 5 December 1917, he is promoted to Lance Sergeant.[21]He spends Christmas 1917 at Sutton Veny, England, where the "G.O.C. inspected Christmas Dinner and found all Ranks more than satisfied with Menu." and "Brigade Sports held today on Pioneers Parade Ground. Silver Cup presented by Commandant to Battalion winning most events, was won easily by Pioneer Training Battalion".[22]
 
After finishing his NCO Instructors course on 30 December 1917, Thomas ends his training at Tidworth Barracks, No.6 Camp, Sutton Veny. He marches into Rouelles, France on 31 December 1917, and on 1 January 1918 marches back into the 3rdPioneer Battalion where he is promoted on the 18 February 1918 to Sergeant. He is awarded two Blue Chevrons for two years of service in the A.I.F. The great Somme Offensive commences at this period of the First World War, and the British offensive starts to gain ground for the Allies.
 
Thomas like many other soldiers of his battalion succumbed to a case of Influenza and on the 10 June 1918, was admitted to hospital via 10thAustralian Field Ambulance and recovered in five-day.[23];[24];[25]He rejoined his unit, the 3rdPioneers Battalion at their base in Villers-Brettoneux.
Regrettably, this would be one of his last postings during his World War One service, as he is invalided out with Chronic Rheumatoid arthritis on the 31 July 1918, aged 41 years, and, aggravated by active service.[26]Thomas embarks from Liverpool for Australia on the 15 September 1918, seven weeks before Armistice on 11 November 1918. He was discharged on 20 December 1918.[27]
 
Under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act, Thomas is allotted two parcels of land in Redcastle, Victoria. It was arranged by his older brother William Neilson. He went onto marry Isabella May McLeod in 1923[28], and had two children, Flora Grant in 1926 and John Graham in 1928.
 
Thomas died on 28 August 1963, in Heathcote, Victoria at the age of 85[29]. He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.[30]

 
Bibliography
 
1stANZAC Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/4.
 
1stANZAC Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/5.
 
1stANZAC Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/6.
 
1stANZAC Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/7.
 
1stANZAC Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/8.
 
1stCanadian Tunnelling Company- Canadian Corps Unit Diary, Volume 9.
 
1stCanadian Tunnelling Company- Canadian Corps Unit Diary, Volume 10.
 
1stCanadian Tunnelling Company- Canadian Corps Unit Diary, Volume 11.
 
2ndAustralian Tunnelling Company Unit Diary, AWM4 16/3/6.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/6.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/8.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/9.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/10.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/11.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/15.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/16.
 
3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/20.
 
10thAustralian Field Ambulance Unit Diary, AWM4 26/53/22.
 
Adam-Smith, Patsy, The Anzacs. Penguin,1978.
 
Australian War Memorial. 16/11/1/ Nominal Roll. Mining Corps. No. 5 Tunnelling Company. P. 2.  https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1378532, Accessed 20 March 2018.
 
 
Beaumont, Joan, ‘Australians and the Great War: Battles, the Home Front and Memory. Teaching History. March 2015. P. 3.
 
Finlayson, Damien, Crumps and Camouflets, Australian Companies Tunnelling on the WesternFront, Big Sky Publishing, 2010
 
"Miners' Corps." Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918) 21 October 1915: p. 3. Accessed. 22 Mar 2018. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91110608
 
Pioneer Training Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/18/3.
 
Pioneer Training Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/18/6.
 
Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria.
 
Reid, Richard, Beaucoup Australiens ici’, Commonwealth of Australia, 1999.
 
Returned & Services League of Australia SA Branch, https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/67, Accessed 26 March 2018.
 
Service Records, B2455, National Archives of Australia.
 
Tunnellers.net, http://tunnellers.net/corps_history/foreword.pdf, Accessed 20 March 2018.
 
Victorian Government Premier’s Department, World war one history: Victoria’s Story. State Government of Victoria, 2015.
 
Wagstaff, Captain Percy William. 2ndTunnelling Company. Biography. www.tunnellers.net/profiles___photos/wagstaff_percy_william_capt.doc
 
 
 
 
 

[1]Birth Certificate of Thomas Archibald Neilson, born 29 December 1877, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, 16595/1877.
[2]Service Record of Thomas Archibald Neilson, p.1, B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[3]Victorian Government Premier’s Department, World war one history: Victoria’s Story. State Government of Victoria, 2015, p, 6.
[4]Beaumont, Joan. Australians and the Great War: Battles, the Home Front and Memory. Teaching History. March 2015. P. 3.
[5]The Anzacs. Adam-Smith, Patsy. 1978. Penguin. P. 83.
[6]"Miners' Corps." Bendigo Advertiser (Vic.: 1855 - 1918) 21 October 1915: 3. Accessed. 22 Mar 2018. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91110608
[7]Service Record of Thomas Archibald Neilson, p.4, B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[8]Australian War Memorial, AWM8, Thomas Archibald Neilson, First World War Embarkation Rolls.
[9]Wagstaff, Captain Percy William. Biography. www.tunnellers.net/profiles___photos/wagstaff_percy_william_capt.doc
[10]1stAnzac Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/4, October 1916, P. 1.
[11]1stCanadian Tunnelling Company Unit Diary, 1st November to 30 November 1916. The government of Canada. Library and Archives, Canada.
[12]Damien Finlayson, Crumps and Camouflets, Australian Companies Tunnelling on the Western Front, Big Sky Publishing, 2010, P. 37.
[13]Tunnellers.net, http://tunnellers.net/corps_history/foreword.pdf, Accessed 20 March 2018.
[14]Service Record of Thomas Archibald Neilson, p.11, B2455, National Archives of Australia
[15]Ibid, P. 12.
[16]Returned & Services League of Australia SA Branch, https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/67, Accessed 26 March 2018.
[17]Service Records of Thomas Archibald Neilson, P. 16
[18]Tunnellers.net Tunnellers War Diary. www.tunnellers.net/corps_history/british_tunnellers_war_diary.doc. Accessed 22 March 2018.
[19]3rdAustralian Pioneer Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/11, P. 1.
[20]Service Records of Thomas Archibald Neilson, P. 16.
[21]Service Records of Thomas Archibald Neilson, P. 10.
[22]Pioneer Training Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/18/6, P. 10.
[23]Service Records of Thomas Archibald Neilson, P. 7.
[24]3rdAustralian Pioneers Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 14/15/20, June 1918, P. 6. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1348382. Accessed 20 March 2018.
[25]10thAustralian Field Ambulance Unit Diary, AWM4 26/53/22. June 1918, P. 4.
[26]Service records of Thomas Archibald Neilson, P. 26.
[27]Ibid, P. 35.
[28]Marriage Certificate of Thomas Archibald Neilson, 1923, Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages Victoria, No. 4951/1923
[29]Death Certificate of Thomas Archibald Neilson, Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages Victoria, No. 18000/1963.
[30]Service Records of Thomas Archibald Neilson, P. 36.