Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sergeant Thomas Hodgson 29754 (mustering: Cook) from the General Reconnaissance School at Bairnsdale died on the Bairnsdale to Melbourne train - which stopped at Pakenham to allow a doctor to examine him

From How We Served
 
The final resting place for; - 2289 & 29754 Sergeant Thomas Hodgson of Mount Gambier, South Australia and Perth, Western Australia who prior to his enlistment for War Service on the 3rd of April 1916 had been employed as a laborer. Thomas was allocated to reinforcements for the 48th Battalion 1st AIF, and was embarked for England ad further training on the 12th of August.

Having arrived safely in England on the 30th of September, Thomas was then sent over to France to undergo his final phase of instructions, when he entered ‘The Bull Ring’ at Etaples, before officially joining his Battalion in the field on the 9th of December.

Evacuated due to illness four days later, Thomas would return to his Unit by the 23rd of January 1917, after which his service in the trenches would be continuous.

Thomas was with his Battalion when it was committed to the First Battle of Bullecourt on the 11th of April 1917, and it was during this fighting that he was cited originally as ‘Missing in Action’, which was later updated as being a ‘Prisoner of War’, and held in Germany.

Here, Thomas would remain in captivity until the signing of the Armistice on the 11th of November 1918, after which he was finally liberated, and returned to England on the 16th of December.

Thomas began his repatriation back to Australia, departing England on the 17th of March 1919, and following his arrival back in Australia he received his official discharge from the 1st AIF for his re-entry into civilian life on the 5th of June 1919.

With the outbreak of a Second World War, Thomas again presented himself for War Service, when he enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force on the 29th of January 1941, and was accepted for full time duty within Australia.

Again, Thomas’s service would be continuous, and included postings to 77 Squadron and later to 1 Mobile Works Squadron. Thomas was transferred to the General Reconnaissance School at Bairnsdale in October 1943, where he was serving as a cook.
Whilst serving with this Unit, Thomas’s sudden death due to illness occurred on the 14th of April 1944, at the premature age of 50.

Following his death, whilst serving with the Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant Thomas Hodsgon, a ‘Great War’ veteran, who had chosen to serve his country during another War, was formally laid to rest within Springvale War Cemetery, Victoria.