BLAKE, Thomas Middleton
| Service Number: | 10/1420 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Unspecified New Zealand Army Units |
| Born: | Nathalia, Victoria, Australia, 10 May 1886 |
| Home Town: | Nathalia, Strathbogie, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 8 August 1915, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated Chunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll |
World War 1 Service
| Date unknown: | Involvement Private, 10/1420, Unspecified New Zealand Army Units |
|---|
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Son of the late Thomas and Elizabeth Blake, of Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia.
Enlisted 22 December 1914 Wellington Regiment NZEF
We are sorry to have to record a death of yet another brave Nathalia lad, after having spent five months in the trenches, twice wounded and returned the second time. We refer to the late Thomas Middleton Blake, who born at Nathalia, and spent part of his school days here. His father, the late Thomas Blake, was one of our early pioneers, after whom our principal street has been named. Appended is a copy of a letter received from a comrade who fought side by side with him for five months on Gallipoli.
28/9/1915.
I have a sad duty to perform. A promise given to a gallant comrade. I refer to the late T. M. Blake. We were friends for seven years in New Zealand before joining the expeditionary forces, and comrades at Gallipoli. I greive to see his name among the missing — believed killed. I fear the latter is only too true.
We occupied the same position on the night of 7th August. On Sunday morning, 8th August, before dawn, we were ordered to stand to for an attack with the bayonet on the heights of Charak Bair. He remarked to me before we moved (we were standing together), well Jack, the Wellington Battalion is going to get it now. We knew there would be very few survivors. Our officer said, "You see the ridge ?" "Yea." " See the high peak in the centre ?" " Yes," Well, go for that." We were the leading Platoon of the leading company, and Tom said, "We're off. Good luck," and I replied, and we were away. I saw him once or twice as we climbed the hill, and I was only a few yards from him when we joined the Turkish trenches on the top.
Then the Turks counter attacked, and we got separated getting back into the Turkish trench. We had a very warm time and I could only just hang on. It was there, I was told, that Tom was hit ; I was hit soon afterwards, and when I found my way to the rear, some others told me he was killed instataneously, shot through the head. I knew he would die game to the last, looking straight to the front, as I'd often seen him do before, taking it all as part of the day's work.
I wish with all my heart I could give you some hope, but I'm afraid there is none. Please accept my deep sympathy. He gave me your address some time before, in case I was left, and asked me to let you know all I could. You will know how we suffered on that ridge when I tell you that we had 76 men left of our battalion. I was sent to England but hope to be fit again in a few weeks.
Yours faithfully,
10/1765 Corpl. J. T. Byrne,
Hawk's Bay Company.
N.Z. Exped. Force,
Now Mile End Hospital,
Hampstead, London.