Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Wilfred RIGNEY (known as Tim) was born at Brompton on 25.11.1893 to Thomas (1860 – 28.09.1914) and Sarah RIGNEY (1865-1943) (nee PRIME).  

Thomas and Sarah were married at Adelaide on 27.07.1890.

He enlisted in Adelaide aged 22 and was allocated as an Infantry Private with the 4th Reinforcements of the 32nd Infantry Battalion.

The Unit was shipped to France on the RMS Mongolia, departing from Adelaide on the 9/3/1916.  The Mongolia was later torpedoed and sunk on the 21 July 1918.The 32nd Battalion were part of the 8th Brigade 5th Australian Division and arrived in France in June 1916. On the 16/7/1916 the Battalion was committed to the front for the first time and was involved in the fighting around Fromelles particularly an area known as the ‘Sugarloaf’.  During this battle, the battalion suffered 718 casualties which equalled roughly 90% of its effective strength. That is nine out of 10 members were either killed or wounded, a horrific casualty rate at any time in any war. 

During this battle, Thomas became one of these casualties after being wounded in action on 19/7/1916; the wound resulted in a badly fractured arm.  In a letter to his Mother, he stated that the 32nd Battalion was against the “Prussian Guards”.  He also mentions witnessing the wounding of Pte David LOW, who subsequently died of wounds.  David LOW was a pre-war West Torrens SANFL footballer and a Magarey Medal winner. 

Due to the severity of his wounds Thomas was evacuated to a Canadian Military Hospital and then to the Birmingham War Hospital, England for further treatment.  After recuperation, Thomas later re-joined his unit in France on the 14/10/1916.

The following is a letter from Thomas to his mother, published in the Advertiser on Tuesday 12/9/1916.

WINNING IN EVERY QUARTER.  

I am in the Birmingham War Hospital, suffering from a fractured arm. I am doing as well as can be expected. I was wounded on July 19. Ernest Warner and I had a good time sniping for two hours, and we gave them all they were looking for. Just before we charged I received two letters from you, and that gave me plenty of heart to go into it. I hope I will be able to go back to the trenches soon to help our poor boys. The Australians are fighting well, and they are the talk of England. Something has got to go when they start, I can tell you. I had five hours good fighting. Robert Mc-Arthur, David Low and myself jumped over the parapet together, and after that I did not see them. We were fighting the Prussian Guards. I was wounded about 11 p.m., but they paid the penalty for what they gave me. I did not know that I could shoot so well before. The English, French, and Canadian sisters and nurses are like mothers to us. They cannot do enough for us. The Germans are getting very uneasy now they see how things are going. The Allies are winning in every quarter.

Whilst Thomas was in England, one of his close friends who he served with in the 32nd Battalion, Private Richard BEAGLEY died of wounds on 3/9/1916.  Thomas had his mother place a death notice in the Adelaide Advertiser in memory of his friend which included a poem written in Richard BEAGLEY’s honour.

This shows the depth of Thomas’ friendship for his Battalion mates and as BEAGLEY was originally from Brompton it is possible the pair knew each other prior to the war. 

Thomas served with the 32nd Battalion until 1919 where he then returned to Australia.  He arrived in Australia on 5/8/1919 and was discharged in Adelaide on 6/9/1919. For his war service, Thomas RIGNEY was awarded the British War Medal and the British Victory Medal. 

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Thomas.   On 26.12.1918, he faced a field court martial on a charge of desertion which was downgraded to AWOL from .03.1918 to 12.05.1918. He was sentenced to 12 months hard labour and 59 days forfeiture of pay.   This was changed to 90 days field punishment and a fine