PARK, Thomas Gregson
| Service Number: | 3709 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 June 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Crows Nest, Queensland, Australia , date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Crows Nest, Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Djuan State School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Villers Bretonneux, France, 25 April 1918, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Crows Nest (Qld) War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Jun 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3709, 49th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Aug 1917: | Involvement Private, 3709, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Aug 1917: | Embarked Private, 3709, 49th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Sydney |
Help us honour Thomas Gregson Park's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Lang
# 3709 PARK Thomas (Tom) Gregson 49th Battalion
Tom Park lived his first 18 years on his family’s farm at Djuan near Crows Nest. He was born at Crows nest and attended Djuan School before working on the family farm. As Tom approached his 18th birthday, he obtained the application form to enlist in the AIF, and which his parents, Mary and Samuel Park, signed giving their permission for his enlistment as Tom was still a minor.
Tom attended the Darling Downs Recruitment Depot in Toowoomba on 7th June 1917. He gave his age as 18 years and occupation as farmer. Tom named his mother Mary as his next of kin. Once he was accepted as medically fit, Tom made his way to Enoggera camp where he was placed in the 10th reinforcements of the 49th Battalion. He was granted a period of home leave in July before the reinforcements proceeded by train to Sydney to embark on the “Medic” on 1 August. The embarkation roll shows that Tom had allocated 4/- of his daily pay of 5/- to be deducted and placed into a Commonwealth Bank account.
1917 was a dangerous time for shipping, particularly in the North Atlantic. The “Medic” sailed from Australia to South Africa and then towards the coast of South America before heading north to the Canadian port of Halifax in Nova Scotia, arriving on 21st September. There the reinforcements were transhipped to the larger and faster S.S. “Orita” for the final leg of the voyage across the North Atlantic taking a wide arc to avoid German U-Boats. Tom and the 10threinforcements landed in Liverpool on 3rd October and proceeded directly to the 13th Brigade Training Battalion at Codford in southern England.
Tom and the other reinforcements spent the winter at Codford, continuing necessary training in anticipation of a German assault along the Western Front expected in the spring of 1918. On 26th March, Tom proceeded via Southampton to the AIF Infantry Depot at Havre on the French Coast. The German assault had begun five days earlier.
In a matter of days, all of the ground that had been taken by the British (and Australians) at the cost of over a million lives in the Somme campaign of 1916 was back in German Hands. The speed of the German advance threatened the vital communication hub of Amiens. If the city was taken, the war could well be lost. To meet the German advance, the British Commander, Haig, ordered his most dependable troops, the AIF, to be rushed south from Belgium to stem the tide. Tom Park joined the 49th Battalion on 17th April 1918 as the battalion was moving into defensive positions in the vicinity of the village of Villers Bretonneux. The village was of strategic importance as heavy German artillery placed on the heights nearby could lob shells into Amiens. It was vital that Villers Bretonneux be held.
On 25th April 1918, Anzac Day, the 49th Battalion was moving though a small wood on the outskirts of Villers Bretonneux when a heavy German artillery barrage crashed down. Witnesses said a shell landed beside Tom Park, blowing his lower leg off. Tom died soon after, no doubt from shock. He was still only 18 years old and had been at the front for 8 days. Tom Park was buried by the Brigade Chaplain in the wood, along with several other men killed. At some point, a memorial cross was erected to honour those who died and photographs were taken to be sent to grieving relatives.
Samuel and Mary Park made several requests through the local federal member and the Crows Nest Recruiting Committee for any of Tom’s personal effects to be sent to them but no items were ever located. When grave registration units began to scour the battlefields at the end of the war, there was no trace of Tom Park’s grave or the memorial cross which had marked it. In 1938, some 20 years after the end of the First World War, the Australian Government constructed the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial was dedicated by the newly crowned King George VI. The memorial records the names of over 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in France and have no known grave; Tom Park is among them.
Biography contributed by Ian Lang
# 3709 PARK Thomas (Tom) Gregson 49th Battalion
Tom Park lived his first 18 years on his family’s farm at Djuan near Crows Nest. He was born at Crows nest and attended Djuan School before working on the family farm. As Tom approached his 18th birthday, he obtained the application form to enlist in the AIF, and which his parents, Mary and Samuel Park, signed giving their permission for his enlistment as Tom was still a minor.
Tom attended the Darling Downs Recruitment Depot in Toowoomba on 7th June 1917. He gave his age as 18 years and occupation as farmer. Tom named his mother Mary as his next of kin. Once he was accepted as medically fit, Tom made his way to Enoggera camp where he was placed in the 10th reinforcements of the 49th Battalion. He was granted a period of home leave in July before the reinforcements proceeded by train to Sydney to embark on the “Medic” on 1 August. The embarkation roll shows that Tom had allocated 4/- of his daily pay of 5/- to be deducted and placed into a Commonwealth Bank account.
1917 was a dangerous time for shipping, particularly in the North Atlantic. The “Medic” sailed from Australia to South Africa and then towards the coast of South America before heading north to the Canadian port of Halifax in Nova Scotia, arriving on 21st September. There the reinforcements were transhipped to the larger and faster S.S. “Orita” for the final leg of the voyage across the North Atlantic taking a wide arc to avoid German U-Boats. Tom and the 10threinforcements landed in Liverpool on 3rd October and proceeded directly to the 13th Brigade Training Battalion at Codford in southern England.
Tom and the other reinforcements spent the winter at Codford, continuing necessary training in anticipation of a German assault along the Western Front expected in the spring of 1918. On 26th March, Tom proceeded via Southampton to the AIF Infantry Depot at Havre on the French Coast. The German assault had begun five days earlier.
In a matter of days, all of the ground that had been taken by the British (and Australians) at the cost of over a million lives in the Somme campaign of 1916 was back in German Hands. The speed of the German advance threatened the vital communication hub of Amiens. If the city was taken, the war could well be lost. To meet the German advance, the British Commander, Haig, ordered his most dependable troops, the AIF, to be rushed south from Belgium to stem the tide. Tom Park joined the 49th Battalion on 17th April 1918 as the battalion was moving into defensive positions in the vicinity of the village of Villers Bretonneux. The village was of strategic importance as heavy German artillery placed on the heights nearby could lob shells into Amiens. It was vital that Villers Bretonneux be held.
On 25th April 1918, Anzac Day, the 49th Battalion was moving though a small wood on the outskirts of Villers Bretonneux when a heavy German artillery barrage crashed down. Witnesses said a shell landed beside Tom Park, blowing his lower leg off. Tom died soon after, no doubt from shock. He was still only 18 years old and had been at the front for 8 days. Tom Park was buried by the Brigade Chaplain in the wood, along with several other men killed. At some point, a memorial cross was erected to honour those who died and photographs were taken to be sent to grieving relatives.
Samuel and Mary Park made several requests through the local federal member and the Crows Nest Recruiting Committee for any of Tom’s personal effects to be sent to them but no items were ever located. When grave registration units began to scour the battlefields at the end of the war, there was no trace of Tom Park’s grave or the memorial cross which had marked it. In 1938, some 20 years after the end of the First World War, the Australian Government constructed the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. The memorial was dedicated by the newly crowned King George VI. The memorial records the names of over 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in France and have no known grave; Tom Park is among them.