Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Gardner #63 49th Battalion

Thomas Gardner was one of two sons born to George and Louisa Gardner of Third Avenue, Coorparoo. As a boy he attended Coorparoo State School from 1896. His name appears on the Roll of Honour of the Coorparoo Methodist Church where he was a member of the congregation. At the time of his enlistment he gave his age as 25 years and his occupation as selector, although the embarkation roll shows his occupation as farmer from Walkerston, near Mackay. His elder brother, William, had enlisted in 1915 and Thomas presented himself for enlistment at Chermside on 5th February 1916. Before Thomas embarked for overseas in June 1916, his father died leaving his mother a widow dependant on the allotment of three shillings a day from both sons.

Thomas was originally drafted into the 11th Machine Gun Company but upon arrival in England was transferred first to the 42nd Battalion and then to the 49th Battalion. After a short stay at Etaples in France he joined his unit in January 1917. At that time, the 49th Battalion were engaged in the pursuit of the Germans as they withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. As spring approached, Haig was ready to open a new offensive in Flanders and the Australian Divisions were sent north to prepare. The Flanders campaign was to open with an attack on Messines and the ridge on which the village stood. Plumer, the British General in command at Messines had the advantage of 19 huge mines which had been dug under the German defences as well as massed artillery which would deliver over three and a half millions shells on the first day. The battle opened on the 7th June 1917 with the firing of the mines, causing an estimated 10,000 German casualties. The 4th Division AIF, of which the 49th was a part, went over the top as the artillery barrage began. Sometime during that day, Thomas Gardner was killed in action. There are no records of a Red Cross Inquiry into his death, nor any record of his body being buried on the battlefield. Thomas is commemorated along with 55,000 other British and Dominion Troops who have no known grave on the memorial tablets on the Menin Gate at Ypres. To commemorate the sacrifice of these men who fell in Flanders fields, a ceremony which includes the playing of the last post has been conducted each evening at the Menin Gate since 1923.