Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

3899 Private Tom Rogers, 9th Battalion Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force (1893-1916)
 
Thomas Rogers was born in January 1893 at Bagley, the eldest son of Tom Rogers (1871-1933) and his wife Florence (1870-1949) nee Watts, whose family came from Godney. He had two younger brothers – Albert and William Frank - and five younger sisters – Eliza, Florence, Elizabeth, Roselyn and Edith. By 1911 the family had moved to Mark Drove, Wedmore, where both the father and eldest son – the latter normally known as Tom - worked as Turf Dealers. In 1912 Tom Rogers emigrated to Australia, probably taking advantage of an assisted passage, aboard the SS Beltana. On 13thJanuary 1913 he landed at Sydney and eventually found work as a Labourer on a farm in New South Wales.
 
22 year-old Tom Rogers enlisted at Lismore in New South Wales on 23rd September 1915, describing himself on his Attestation Papers as a Labourer, where he joined the 12thReinforcement Draft destined for the 9th Australian Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force already serving at Gallipoli. The examining Medical officer described Rogers as being 5 feet 8 inches in height, weighing 10 stone 12lbs and having a chest measurement of 35 inches. His complexion was dark, eyes blue and hair brown. Following basic training with the 3rdTraining Battalion, on 30thDecember 1915 Rogers embarked aboard theHis Majesty’s Australian Transport Itonusat Brisbane for the voyage to Egypt, where the 9thBattalion was now resting, reorganising and being brought up to strength following the evacuation of Gallipoli.
 
HMAT Itonus reached Alexandria early the following year and on 17thMarch 1916 Rogers was formally taken on the strength of the 9thAustralian Battalion, part of 1stAustralian Division, at Serapeum. The Australians did not remain in Egypt for long, however, leaving Alexandria on 27thMarch 1916 to join the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. On 4thApril 1916 Rogers disembarked from the SS Saxonia, a converted Cunard liner, at Marseilles. The 9thBattalion moved up to by train to a so-called ‘nursery sector’ of the Western Front south of Armentieres, where as part of 2ndArmy it set about familiarising itself with local conditions with a will. On 18th April Rogers, however, reported sick with influenza while serving in the frontline at Rouge de Bois south of Sailly. Unfortunately Tom Rogers was dogged by ill-health when in France. While still recovering on 1stJune 1916 he contracted scarlet fever and was hospitalised in the Australian Voluntary Hospital at Wimereux. On 12thJune he finally reported fit for duty at the 1stAustralian Division Base Depot at Etaples.
 
Private Tom Rogers’ extended hospitalisation and convalescence meant he was absent during the 9thBattalion Australian Infantry’s first major engagement on the Western Front during the Battle of the Somme. On 23rdJuly the 1st Australian Division attacked, after a massive artillery bombardment, and captured the heavily-fortified village of Pozieres, but further progress was stopped by fierce German resistance and repeated counterattacks. Between 23-26thJuly the captured village was targeted by intense shelling of a greater intensity than ever experienced before on the Western Front. Within 5 days the 1stAustralian Division lost 5,285 men and when withdrawn into reserve was a pale shadow its former self. The exhausted 9thAustralian Battalion suffered heavily operating on the right flank of its brigade suffering some 400 casualties from an initial strength of 1016 officers and men. As one eyewitness who watched them march back for a well-earned rest later recorded: ‘They looked like men who had been to hell… drawn and haggard and so dazed that they appeared to be walking in a dream and their eyes looked glassy and starey.’
 
The 9thBattalion Australian Infantry was still resting, reorganising and training at Berteaucourt following its ordeal at Pozieres when Private Tom Rogers rejoined his unit on 29thJuly 1916. In mid August the partially rebuilt 1stAustralian Division was committed to battle once again on the Pozieres Ridge and during repeated attacks made only slow progress towards the heavily-defended German position at Mouquet Farm, 1200 yards to the north west of Pozieres. Casualties from intense German shellfire were heavy amongst the ‘Diggers’ sheltering in disconnected shallow trenches and covering further Australian attacks on Mouquet Farm and the Fabeck Graben trench. On 22ndAugust the 1stAustralian Division was again withdrawn and replaced by 2nd Australian Division. Sadly Private Tom Rogers was killed in action that day, as the 9thBattalion Australian Infantry began withdrawing under heavy shellfire from the frontline for another well-deserved rest. He was one of the 5 Officers and 159 Other Ranks from the 9thBattalion who became casualties during its second tour at Pozieres. Unfortunately his body was not recovered from the battlefield.
 
The sad news of Private Tom Rogers’ death was quickly reported to his grieving family, now living at Mark Road, Wedmore, who received his few personal effects from the Australian authorities early the following year. As his body was never found Private Tom Rogers’ name is listed on the Villers-Bretonneaux Memorial - the Australian National Memorial erected at the Somme to commemorate all Australian troops who fought in France and Belgium during the First World War, especially those who have no known grave. Tom Rogers name is remembered on the Memorial Tablet inside St Mary’s Church and outside on the Wedmore War Memorial. His name is also listed on Panel 57 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. His grieving parents later received from the Australian military authorities a named British War Medal and Victory Medal, as well as a Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll. Tragically this was not the only loss borne by the Rogers Family during the First World War. On 13thMarch 1918 his younger brother Albert was killed serving with the Sherwood Foresters in France.

This is an excert from Tim Moreman, ‘The Isle of Wedmore Rememebrs teh First World War,, 1914-19 (Wedmore, 2017) Copyright.