16395
MITTEN, Thomas Walter
| Service Number: | 3904 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 December 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Plumstead, Kent, England, 1 May 1899 |
| Home Town: | Payneham, Norwood Payneham St Peters, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Dairy Farmer |
| Died: | 13 August 1960, aged 61 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mitcham General Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Dec 1917: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Mar 1918: | Involvement Private, 3904, 48th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Mar 1918: | Embarked Private, 3904, 48th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney |
Thomas Walter MITTEN
Thomas (Tom) Walter MITTEN was born in 1900 in Plumstead, England, son of Thomas (Tommy) Walter MITTEN and Frances nee EDWARDS. Tom was Church of England. He had arrived in Adelaide May 18, 1912 with his family (parents and 5 children) on the ship Orsova which had departed from Toulon on 12/4/1912. The family then settled in Adelaide.
He enlisted on 31 Dec 1917 as Private in the 48th Batt., 11th Reinforcement (service nr 3904) and embarked from Sydney on HMAT A54 Runic on 22/3/1918. His father lied about his age to have him enlisted and his enlistment record says DOB 1 May 1899. The record says his occupation was dairy farmer, and his address 159 Payneham Road, East Adelaide. He served in France, returned to Australia on 22/8/1919 or 5/10/1919 on the Anchises, with a limp. Discharged on 29 Oct 19.19
Thomas Mitten became a painter (following his grandfather, William Mitten, who was a painter in Ticehurst, Sussex, England). He and two other painters were badly injured in April 1930 in a fall while painting the ceiling of St Patrick's Cathedral in Grote St (Adelaide) when a plank in a network of scaffolding on which they were working broke. The accident was written up on the front page of the Adelaide News article, "Painters Injured" noting that Thomas Mitten of Mitcham had an injured jaw.
Tom was listed as aged 39 years and living in Princes Road, Mitcham, in 1939 when, on driving two other painters home from work, he tried to avoid a collision with another car and collided with a shop verandah, demolishing 3 verandah posts before the car hit the tree in Government road, Croydon.
According to his grand-daughter Rae Campbell, the accident(s) caused Tom much suffering and he stayed partly bedridden for the rest of his life.
He passed away in 1960 and is buried in Mitcham Cemetery.
Submitted 14 April 2025 by N. Campbell
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