COLE, Thomas jun
| Service Number: | 2122 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cobar, New South Wales, Australia, 25 September 1883 |
| Home Town: | Mogriguy, Dubbo Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Orange, New South Wales, Australia, 18 November 1967, aged 84 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Orange General Cemetery, New South Wales |
| Memorials: | Eumungerie - Coboco RSL Memorial, Eumungerie Mogriguy Soldiers WWI Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2122, 18th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2122, 18th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2122, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Thomas Cole junior was the son of Thomas and Rose Cole, of Mogriguy, New South Wales. Five of his brothers also enlisted in the AIF and embarked for overseas service during WW1.
Tom as he was known enlisted in July 1915 with his brothers Will and Jack. All three were assigned to the 18th Battalion and given consecutive regimental numbers.
Tom was severely wounded at Pozieres on 5 August 1916, a gunshot to his upper arm and elbow. He was immediately evacuated to hospital in England.
His brother 2123 Private William Henry Cole was killed at Pozieres only six days earlier on 31 July 1916 and his younger brother, 2121 Lce. Cpl. John ‘Jack’ Alexander Cole died of wounds in Belgium only five weeks later on 13 September 1916, aged 22.
Thomas Cole was in hospital for most of 1916. He was returned to Australia during early 1917, for a change, with a ‘bomb wound right elbow.’
He was granted a pension of 3 pounds per fortnight from July 1917.
Tom had written a letter home from France in June 1916, “It is very cold, but the summer here is like winter in Australia. France is a pretty place. We are all expecting to be back by Christmas, if our luck is in. Kindly remember me to all Mogriguy friends.”
Tom was married in Dubbo during 1919, to Miss Isabelle Matilda Moore. She was the sister of six brothers who also served in the A.I.F. The local paper reported “This wedding was an event full of interest, and it is a remarkable coincidence that the two families with the best war record in the west should now be united. Men who have returned from the front— and many of these were comrades in arm of the Moore’s’ and the Cole’s — attended the wedding in uniform, and after the ceremony formed a guard of honor for the matrimonial party as it left the church. At the wedding, J. J. McGinty, late A.I.F., who was in uniform and wore the colors of Carmichael's First Thousand, presided. There were the usual toasts, and the merriness of a soldiers' gathering pervaded the company.”
Thomas and Isabelle raised six children, he also served again during WW2. Thomas passed away in 1967 at 84 years of age.