Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas is remembered on the Applecross War Memorial, but he did in fact survive the Great War. His service number was 1870 and he enlisted on 3rd April 1916. At this time he stated his age as 43 and that he was married to Annie Rebecca MacDonald. He suffered from Trench Foot whilst serving in the 2nd Reinforcements, A.I.F. He also suffered from rheumatism. He returned to Australia on 30th January 1918.

The Applecross peninsula (Scottish Gaelic: A' Chomraich, 'The Sanctuary') is a peninsula in Wester Ross, Highland, on the north west coast of Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1300 years old and is not used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is correctly called 'Shore Street', or simply 'The Street') with the Applecross Inn, lying on the small Applecross Bay, facing the Inner Sound, on the opposite side of which lies the Inner Hebridean island of Raasay. The village of Applecross was established by St. Maelrubha, in the 7th century. A sculptured stone is the only relic of St. Maelrubha remaining,; he built a chapel there.

Extremely isolated, Applecross was only accessible by boat until the early 20th century, and for many years after that the only road access was over one of Scotland's most notoriously treacherous roads, the Bealach na Ba ('Pass of the Cattle'), which crosses the peninsula and reaches a maximum height of 2053 ft (626 m), below the 774 m high Sgùrr a' Chaorachain. The settlement is now connected via a winding coastal road which travels around the edge of the peninsula to Shieldaig and Torridon. The road skirts the shore of the Inner Sound and Loch Torridon.