Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Thomas and Georgina Arthur, 43 Tramwell Avenue, Murrumbeena, Victoria. Native of Traralgon, Victoria

Brother of Charles Edmund Perrian Arthur who was killed in action 11/5/15 at Gallipoli

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

From Francois Somme

Pte 3756 Thomas Perriam Arthur
 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
6th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, AIF
 
More than a hundred years ago, on the fields of the Somme, from the other side of the world, fought with bravery on the grounds of northern France, thousands of young Diggers, the entire Australian nation who volunteered to come in aid of France and, in the prime of their lives, there were 416,809 men out of a population of five million souls who joined the battlefields of the great war, first in Gallipoli where soldiers and nurses showed the courage of a united nation then after the blood red sands of Suvla, of ANZAC Cove, fought in France and in the front line, rushed in courageous waves under the machine guns at Fromelles where the Diggers suffered heavy losses but on July 23, 1916, they were led into the hell of the Somme and fought like lions at Pozieres then at Mouquet Farm through the bullets and shells under which fell thousands of young Australians who for so many years,eternally young, solemnly stand behind their white graves alongside their other friends who have no known graves but all together, shoulder to shoulder, rest in peace and will be forever remembered by the French people who will never forget all that these men and all that Australia, our friends and brothers separated by the ocean but united by heart and respect, have done for us who live thanks to the courage and sacrifices of these men and women whom I will always watch over with respect and love on these sacred grounds where poppies will never stop growing where so many lives were lost but gathered in the light of remembrance, their names will live forever as the children of France wished, who in 1918 wrote in Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux in gold letters on the walls "Do Not Forget Australia".

Today, it is with infinite and the deepest gratitude as well as with the utmost respect that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, of one of my boys of the Somme who, on the battlefields, alongside his brothers in arms, for Australia and for France, gave his life.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 3756 Thomas Perriam Arthur who fought in the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion,B Company, 6th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force, and who died of his wounds 109 years ago, on August 29, 1916 at the age of 26 during the Battle of the Somme.

Thomas Perriam Arthur was born in December 1889 in Traralgon, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, and was the son of Thomas Perriam Arthur (1848-1913) and Georgina Perriam Arthur (née Heath,1857-1918), of 43 Tranmere Avenue , Murrumbeena, Victoria then after the death of her husband, Georgina lived with her son and five daughters, Alice Arthur (1875-1936), Rebecca Arthur (1877-1946), Annie Helena Arthur, Lena Frances Arthur (1884-1942) and Mabel Arthur (1887-1951) on Amess Avenue, Murrumbeena. He was educated at Yarragon and Brighton State Schools in Victoria and then, after graduation, worked as a timber worker at Murrumbeena until the outbreak of war.

Ready to do his duty and driven by the courage of an entire nation who joined the battlefields, Thomas enlisted on December 1, 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria, as a Private in the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion,B Company, 9th Reinforcement which was raised in May 1915 in Broadmeadows, north of Melbourne. Along with the 21st, 22nd and 23rd Battalion, the 24th formed part of the 6th Brigade, which was assigned to the 2nd Division. It had originally been planned that the battalion would be raised from personnel drawn from outside of Victoria and it was designated as an "outer states" battalion meaning that it would draw its recruits from the less populous states of Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. A sureit of recruits that had arrived at Broadmeadows at the time it was decided to raise the battalion there, from Victorian volunteers. Enlisted too late to join the Gallipoli campaign, Thomas underwent a training period of just over two months at Bradmeadows Camp then embarked with his unit from Melbourne, on board HMAT A69 Warilda on February 8, 1916 and sailed for Egypt where they arrived on March 21 in Alexandria and the same day, joined the British Expeditionary Force and proceeded overseas for France on board HMT Lake Michigan.

Particularly dangerous because of the presence of German submarines in the Mediterranean Sea, in particular U-35 which sank several merchant ships and troop transports, the voyage to France was tense and it is noted in the diary of the battalion that all officers of HMT Lake Michigan were on deck and showed great vigilance by observing the sea through binoculars and all crew members stood ready in case of enemy action. On March 23,1916, ,just behind them, HMT Minneapolis was torpedoed by U-35 and sank then a message was received that another submarine was spotted 62 miles from Michigan which increased its cruising speed and after a trip of less than a week,Thomas finally arrived in France and was disembarked in Marseilles on March 27.

After arriving in Marseilles, Thomas marched to Etaples where he joined the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot and where he was awarded of three days in Field Prison on May 9, 1916 for leaving the ranks without permission then was taken on strength on May 12 at Hallobeau where he and the men of the 24th Battalion underwent a period of training, including bayonet fighting, practice with grenades and musketry exercises, then were employed in working parties consisting of the laying of communication cables and the digging of trenches between Bois-Grenier and Rue-Marle and on May 28, received orders to move into billets near the Bac-St-Maure railway line, south of Armentieres where they remained until May 30.
On June 1, 1916, Thomas and the men of the 24th Battalion left Bac-St-Maure and marched into billets at Erquinghem where there too they alternated between training, working parties and rest far behind the front line then on June 22, moved to rest at Rue-Marle and remained there until July 4th.

On July 5, 1916, the 24th Battalion was relieved by the New Zealand Rifles,left Rue marle and moved to La Creche, near Bailleul where they were billeted until July 7 and then ordered to join the Somme front line and the next day marched through Merris, Strazeele, Pradelle, Hazebrouck, Ebblinghem, Wardresques, Arques then on July 12, finally arrived in the Somme, in Longueau, near Amiens and headed for their billets located in St-Sauveur then after a little rest, Thomas and his comrades followed a period of training including new attack formation practice and assaults. On July 16, they resumed their march forward and went through Rainneville, Rubempre, Herissart, Toutencourt and reached the small village of Varennes for a final period of training before going to the front line.

We can imagine how Thomas and his comrades felt as they heard the sound of artillery in the distance and wondered what was going to happen to them, and how many of them would be killed or wounded in the next few days and then gathered around from their tents on July 25, they were told that they were going to fight in Pozières but were far from imagining in what hell, in what horrors they were going to be pushed and that this village of the Somme was going to become the symbol of courage and sacrifices of the Australian soldiers and the entire Australian Imperial Force who, in six weeks of nightmare, were going to lose 23,000 men then, after a final march of a few kilometers, the 24th Battalion joined, under a deluge of shells, the front line of Pozieres, of what was left of the village which was pulverized and B Company, of which Thomas was a part, took position in the "Kays Trench", supported by the A and B Company which took position in the "Cemetery Trench".

Pozières straddles the main road from the city of Amiens to the town of Bapaume. It sits near a low ridge which provided the Germans with an outlook over the British lines. Taking Pozières, the British believed, would make Thiepval vulnerable. The task was first given to the 1st Division of the AIF, but ultimately the 2nd and 4th Divisions would also be sucked into the conflict.

Before the moon rose on the night of 22 July the British began an intense bombardment of the German positions around Pozières. The Germans responded with their own barrage of shells and gas, including targeting the area behind the front line where the 1st Division engineers, whose job was to build communication trenches and other strong points, were moving closer to the trenches.

Half an hour after midnight the 1st Division, advancing behind an artillery barrage, attacked, seizing almost all their objectives and reaching the main road through Pozières. In response the Germans relentlessly pounded the village with artillery. A counter attack was repulsed by the Australians and the 1st Division pushed through the village towards the German positions on Pozières ridge but Casualties mounted at a frightening rate.
By 25 July the 1st Division suffered over 5,000 casualties and they were accordingly relieved by the 2nd Division, which was led by General James Legge.However, before the 2nd Division could begin their attack the Germans launched one of their own.On 4 August the 2nd Division captured several trench lines on Pozières heights, reaching as far as the remains of a windmill on the road to Bapaume. The Germans responded with an intense bombardment as a prelude to a counter attack.

After incurring nearly 7,000 casualties the 2nd Division was relieved by the 4th Division over the 5th and 6th of August. Soldiers could not move through the pulverized landscape without being shot at or shelled. The Australians were particularly vulnerable as their advance through the village exposed their position to German artillery firing from three sides.Having secured Pozières, the 4th Division were ordered to advance the front line north-westerly towards Thiepval. In between stood Mouquet Farm, a heavily fortified position with an extensive network of tunnels and deep dugouts which provided the Germans with protection from bombardments while allowing their troops to defend against attackers. Between 8 August and 5 September the AIF made seven attempts to secure the farm, their task made difficult by the narrow front on which they operated, exposed, more than ever, to both enemy artillery and their own.
In the official history of the war Charles Bean wrote of the Pozières conflict; "the flayed land, shell-hole bordering shell-hole, corpses of young men lying against the trench walls or in shell-holes; some,except for the dust settling on them,seeming to sleep; others torn in half; others rotting, swollen and discoloured." He thought about the men, desperately needing sleep in "dangerous places perilously shaken with the crashing thump of each heavy shell whose burst might all too easily shovel them on top of their occupants."
Into this landscape the 4th Division launched the first of a series of piecemeal attacks to capture Mouquet Farm. On 8th August they established posts near the edge of the farm. They attacked again on the 12th and 13th and planned to take the farm on 14th August, but the Germans so heavily bombarded the area that Arthur Ross, commanding officer of the 51st Battalion, wrote to his brigadier that "it is my genuine (not depressed) opinion that it would be a mistake to further press the offensive in this salient until communications and supplies of food and ammunition could be improved."

The following day the 1st Division replaced the 4th and was given the task of advancing on the flank of Mouquet Farm to capture the German front line trenches on the road from Pozières to Bapaume. During the advancement, on 18 August, David Brown, who commanded a Company of the 4th Battalion, captured a German strong point near Mouquet Farm. He and his men held the post for several hours despite German counter attacks, earning the Military Cross. Dudley Hardy commanded a Company of the 8th Battalion that was positioned to the right of the main road near the windmill. He led several charges, but on the third attempt Hardy was seriously wounded. As he was being carried back to the lines a bomb burst wounded him in the thigh. Light-headed due to blood loss, Hardy handed his flask to a private and crawled away. He did not return.

The 2nd Division reached the farm on 26 August but could not hold it and after five days they were replaced by the 4th Division. The fresh divisions made small gains when they entered the conflict, and by 5 September, when the 4th Division was withdrawn and Canadian forces took over, the salient created by the Australians at Pozières had reached as far as it could. Eventually, on 26 September, Mouquet Farm was secured by the British, but only after they had captured Thiepval and the front line had moved beyond the farm.

On what Charles Bean called "that crowded mile" at Pozières, the AIF lost 23,000 men; killed, wounded or captured during forty five days of fighting. The casualties suffered at Pozières and Mouquet Farm, and earlier at Fromelles, meant that the four Australian divisions then in France needed to rebuild.

For Thomas and his unit, as well as for the 24th Battalion, their first days in the Pozieres trenches (July 27-30) were deadly and as they moved into Sausage Valley on July 31, they left behind 199 men, 43 of whom were killed in action, then on August 4, 1916, they moved back to the front line and were involved in the attack on two German trenches called "OG1" and "OG2" and then on the attack of the windmill which the Australians captured at the cost of terrible losses including the loss of 227 men in the ranks of the 24th Battalion including 24 killed in action and 79 missing.
On August 7, 1916, Thomas and the men of the 24th Battalion moved to "Tara Hill" then marched to Warloy-Baillon where they arrived the next day and were sent to rest in the rear, in the small village of Berteaucourt-Les- Dames where they remained until August 21 and the following day, took the trenches standing in front of Mouquet Farm defended by a regiment of the Prussian Guard but immediately suffered heavy casualties from constant German barrages then, in an extremely courageous attempt to capture Mouquet Farm, on August 26, the men of the 24th came out of their trenches but Thomas was seriously injured by a gun shot wound and was immediately evacuated from the front line, was admitted the next day to 1st Field Ambulance and transferred to the 49th Casualty Clearing Station in Contay, suffering from a perforation of the abdomen but despite the care he received, he died of his injuries two days later, on August 29, 1916 at the age of 26.

Today, Thomas Perriam Arthur rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Contay British Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Thy will be done."

Thomas Perriam Arthur had a brother who also fought bravely during the great war. He was Serjeant number 995 Charles Edmund Perriam Arthur who served in the 5th Australian Field Artillery Battery, 5th Brigade, Australian Field Artillery but was unfortunately killed in action on the 11th May 1915 in Gallipoli at the age of 20 and rests today in Beach Cemetery, ANZAC, Gallipoli, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Thy will be done."

Thomas, on this day of remembrance, on these sacred grounds in the north of France, I would like, through these few words, to express to you from the heart of a young French man, my gratitude, my respect and the love that I feel for you and for all the young Australian soldiers and for their brothers in arms who fought with bravery and determination, shoulder to shoulder in the trenches of the Somme in which a whole generation of young boys gathered after answering the call of duty that guided them to take a step forward to serve their country, to be alongside their friends and brothers who left behind them the joy and hopes of innocent youth, the promises of peaceful and beautiful lives to alongside their loved ones, in the love and warmth of their homes, in the loving arms of their mothers who resigned themselves to accepting that their husbands, their sons could fight and risk their lives but, proud of them despite heavy hearts, they let them go because in these decisive hours, these young men, animated by the deepest loyalty and by a strong spirit of camaraderie, did not want to stay behind in fear of receiving a white feather and because for them, fighting was the right thing to do and with enthusiasm, with pride and determination, the young Diggers sailed on their way to the battlefields and despite the fear of never returning home, to remain forever under a white grave, they did not look back and pushed forward by the trust that these young men had in each other, they followed the orders and the bagpipes that guided them towards the horizon, towards the unknown, always keeping their heads high under their slouch hats on which shone the insignia of the Australian Imperial Force who fought with faith and with the highest bravery alongside their French brothers in arms on the fields of poppies which turned red with the blood of a whole generation of exceptional men and who, in the prime of their lives, showed the conviction and courage of all Australia which was described with force and emotion on July 7, 1918 by the French prime minister George Clemenceau after the victory of the AIF and Sir John Monash at Le Hamel, in the Somme as follows: "When the Australians came to France, the French people expected a great deal of you.We knew that you would fight a real fight, but we did not know that from the very beginning you would astonish the whole continent.

I shall go back tomorrow and say to my countrymen, I have seen the Australians, I have looked in their faces, I know that these men will fight alongside of us again until the cause for which we are all fighting is safe for us and for our children."These few words still resound today as the fraternal bond which unites the Australian people to the people of France, a bond which was born in the trenches of the Somme today disappeared under the flowers and the silence but we do not forget that in Pozieres, at Mouquet Farm, Flers, Gueudecourt, Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens, thousands of brave Diggers fought and fell for my country, charging with admirable dash through barbed wire and under bullets in the name of peace and the freedom for which they gave their youth and their lives far from home but will always have the love of the people of France because they were not only Australian, they are and will always be our adopted sons on whom I will always watch with love and care, with respect and gratitude to perpetuate their memory and their stories so that their names live forever in the eternal light of remembrance that I will always carry proudly for them and their families who will find in the Somme, the open door of our homes and all our love that I feel with all my heart for Australia which, through the young Diggers, has become my adopted country.Thank you so much Thomas, for all that you and your brothers as well as your comrades did for us who live thanks to you. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.