Thomas Stanley BETHEL

Thomas Stanley BETHEL Update Details

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BETHEL, Thomas Stanley

Service Numbers:	365, N103240
Enlisted:	26 August 1914
Last Rank:	Corporal
Last Unit:	2nd Infantry Battalion
Born:	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 14 July 1888
Home Town:	Sans Souci, Kogarah, New South Wales
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Painter
Died:	Fell from a train , Australia, 28 August 1942, aged 54 years
Cemetery:	Botany General Cemetery, New South Wales
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour

World War 1 Service

26 Aug 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2nd Infantry Battalion
18 Oct 1914:	Involvement Private, 365, 2nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: ''
18 Oct 1914:	Embarked Private, 365, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Sydney

World War 2 Service

3 Sep 1939:	Involvement Corporal, N103240
11 Feb 1941:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, N103240

Help us honour Thomas Stanley Bethel's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Robert Kearney

Valour unrewarded

It was the general opinion of members of the 2nd Battalion who returned from the last war that Corporal Bethel, then a private, should have been awarded the V.C. for his action at Quinn's Post, Gaba Tepe. According to reports published in 1916, an enemy machine-gun 50 yards away from the post was raking the Australian advance. A party was ordered to take the gun, but in the face of a mowing fire the attack proved ineffective.
Bethel went on alone, using his rifle until it was out of order, and is then credited with killing five Turks with his bayonet and taking the post.
As the officers who saw his exploit were all killed in the action, there was no one in authority to recommend him for an award.

The Sydney Morning Herald 29 August 1942

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