Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 3666 Thomas Connery who served as Thomas Murray in the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, 13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division
 
Today under the sun of the Somme, thousands of white graves emerge from the fog and stand in the silence of the poppies that grow and under a blue and peaceful sky in which fly the doves of peace that flew overhead, there is more hundred years, the battlefields of the great war and the Somme on which, side by side, with courage, heroism and determination, united in the most beautiful spirit of comradeship and friendship, of humanity, served, fought and fell millions of young men, a whole generation who, gone but not and never forgotten, rest in peace through the rows of their white graves of silent cemeteries in which, through a light breeze, their voices are heard, the voices of men whom we will always honor with the greatest respect and on whom I would always watch with devotion and love to bring them back to life, to perpetuate their memory and their stories so that they are never forgotten.
Today, it is with the deepest respect, with gratitude and with my heart that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who, for his country and for France, for us, gave his today and his life.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 3666 Thomas Connery who served as Thomas Murray in the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, 13th Brigade, 4th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on June 10, 1918 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

Thomas Connery was born in 1895 in Williamstown, Victoria, and was the son of Mathew and Annie Connery, of 188 Abbotsford Street, North Melbourne,then after Mathew's death, Annie lived at 126 Douglas Parade, Williamstown,Victoria.Before the outbreak of the war, Thomas was an apprentice for five years in the Victorian Railways and worked as a boilermarker and lived with his aunt, Emma Munday at 34 Albion Street, Annandale, New South Wales. Thomas also had good military experience and served four years with the Senior Cadets, three years in the 69th Battalion of the Citizen Forces and then in the Navy.

Thomas Murray enlisted at the age of 22 in Brisbane, Queensland on August 17, 1917 in the 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 10th reinforcement and gave his name as Thomas Murray but his mother wrote to the army to inform that her son had left the Navy without receiving his discharge and had enlisted in the military in the name of Murray and that his real name was Thomas Connery.

After a period of two months of training in Brisbane, Thomas embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on October 31, 1917 and sailed for England where he was disembarked on December 26, 1917 in Devonport then was sent to Codford to complete his training with the 13th Training Battalion.

After four months of intensive training in as realistic war conditions as possible, Thomas embarked with his battalion from Dover, England, on April 1, 1918 and proceeded overseas for France and was disembarked in Calais the same day then on April 4, he proceeded to join his unit in the Somme and was taken on strength the same day and fought courageously in the battle of Villers-Bretonneux between April 24 and 27, after which, a month later, on May 16, 1918, he was transferred and taken on strength in the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion.

Thomas' war was short and unfortunately, a month after being transferred to the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion on June 10, 1918, he met his fate and was killed in action at Sailly-Le-Sec, Somme, he was 23 years old.

Thomas Connery was initially buried in Vaux Military Cemetery but was later re-buried and today, he rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Villers-bretonneux Military Cemetery,Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "O sacred heart of Jesus have mercy on his soul, requiescat in pace. "

Thomas, you who fought and who gave your youth, your today and your life for your country, for Australia and France on the battlefields of the Somme on which you rest in peace in the shadow of countless white tombs, alongside your friends and comrades who like you, answered the call to duty and paid the greatest sacrifice, I would like, from the bottom of my heart, to say thank you for all you have done for us, for humanity, for the peace in which we live and in which I have the honor to watch over you, over the men of a whole generation and through these few words, I would like to express my gratitude to you, gratitude from my country for which you have done so much and which owes you so much and which will be forever grateful to you.Young and so brave, guided by your heart and your conviction, you have joined your brothers in arms to do your duty and do your part in the name of justice, freedom and peace.Side by side, on the sunny shores of Australia, from all corners of the world, millions of young and courageous men gathered and embarked to come to the aid of our country which was dying under rains of blood and tons of shells.Determined and full of wills, they came to the soils of northern France with their smiles on their faces and their hearts filled with conviction and walked through the towns and villages of the Somme, they followed their comrades, their officers on hundreds of kilometers in the mild spring in which they saw millions of poppies grow and on which would soon flow so much blood under the murderous fire of thousands of cannons and machine guns.Fearless and ready to give their all, they joined the trenches under the fire of thousands of shells and very quickly discovered the hell of a world at war.Young and innocent, they saw unimaginable horrors and in the mud, in the blood, in the cold and under the howls of the artillery which spat on them tons and tons of shells, flames, gas and death,they held their positions and fought with the highest bravery, together they lived and shared the hard times, they saw their friends, their brothers, their fathers who fell and cried together but they never backed down, they never gave up and found in the mateship, the comradeship and the friendship, the strength that kept them united and strong and with which they moved forward, they were more than brothers in arms, they fought like family, they thought they were ordinary men but were all heroes who went beyond their limits and beyond courage to give the world, to future generations, the hopes of a better world.Brave among the bravest, they never ceased to fight and showed the determination and courage of a whole nation, of a whole generation who, in the trenches, on the battlefields, gave all they had so that millions can live today but the price was high and thousands of these young men never had the chance to return home, they fought and fell in the barbed wire, in the poppies of the Somme which keep in them, in their blood red petals, the memory, the stories and the courage of all these young boys who always stand smiling, tall and proud in the white and peaceful cities in which they rest and live forever behind their names, their memory, like poppies that bloom today, will never fade.In our hearts they will live forever and it is with the greatest care, with love that I will watch over them so that who they were and what they did for us are never forgotten, so that the flame of remembrance never cease to shine. Thank you Thomas,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.

Thomas Murray’s service records note his true family name as Connery and that his mother, Mrs Annie Connery, lived at 126 Douglas Pde, Williamstown, Vic.

Mrs Connery wrote to inform the military that her son had left the Navy without receiving his discharge and had enlisted in the military in the name of Murray.