THURECHT, Edward Peter
| Service Number: | 3231 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 March 1916, Brisbane |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, 16 February 1890 |
| Home Town: | Gympie, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Cordalba State School and Gympie Central State School |
| Occupation: | Grocer's Assistant |
| Died: | Natural causes, Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 14 April 1956, aged 66 years |
| Cemetery: |
Gympie Cemetery, Qld |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3231, 52nd Infantry Battalion, Brisbane | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Sep 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 9th Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 Nov 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 22 Dec 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3231, 47th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Dec 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 28 Mar 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3231, 47th Infantry Battalion, Dernancourt/Ancre, The 47th Battalion was almost destroyed at the 2nd Battle of Dernancourt having brne the brut of an attack by three German Divisions against a frontage held by three understrength Australian Battalions; the 48th 47th and 52nd. | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3231, 47th Infantry Battalion, Dernancourt/Ancre, Severe shrapnel wounds back and upper right arm (fracture). | |
| 6 Apr 1918: | Imprisoned Dernancourt/Ancre | |
| 23 Mar 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3231, 47th Infantry Battalion, HT 'Czar' from Liverpool to Alexandria & HT 'Dongola' for return to Australia arriving Brisbane 26 May 1919. | |
| 31 Mar 1921: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3231, 47th Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 13 Aug 1942: | Enlisted |
|---|
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
3231 Lance Corporal Edward Peter Thurecht known as " Ted" was the eighth child and fifth son of Jacob Thurecht (a German immigrant) and Agnes Jane Robinson. He was born on the 16 February 1890, at Ferry Street, Maryborough. He was educated at Cordalba and Gympie, and as a schoolboy won national prizes for penmanship. At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to his uncle Peter (his father's youngest brother) and worked in this business supplying provisions for the Kingaroy and Almaden railway extensions. He was working at Gympie, when he joined the A.I.F. and served in World War 1 with the 47th Battalion.
Lance Corporal Thurecht was badly wounded on the 5 April 1918 in the Battle of Dernancourt. Suffering a severe shrapnel wounds to the back and right arm, he was left for dead in the field. During the night several of his fellow soldiers, mostly from the Wide Bay district, and lead by his younger brother 3159 Corporal Norman David Thurecht MM searched unsuccessfully for him in no-mans-land. The next day a German soldier who trod on him, noticed signs of life and he was taken behind the German lines. He was firstly in hospital at Darmstadt, Germany a town 45 kilometres north of Schriesheim (his father's birthplace and still the home of near relatives) and then to Czersk, Poland. He was repatriated at the end of the war to Scotland and finally to Australia.
When Edward returned to Australia, his mother waited for many hours in the rain on the wharf at Brisbane for the troopship, which was delayed. She caught a chill; her illness coincided with the Spanish Influenza epidemic which was then sweeping the world. A few days later, on 8 June 1919 Agnes died.
After a long period of convalescence Edward recovered from his wounds and proceeded to set up a general merchant’s business known as “The Diggers’ Store” at Gympie, Queensland in partnership with his brother Norman.
He married Mabel Essie Brown at Gympie in 1922 - they were to have three children. Ted Thurecht died in April 1956 at Gympie.
Courtesy of Lorraine Major, Brisbane, Queensland, 2013
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