LUCAS, Arthur Thomas
| Service Numbers: | R2730, 2730 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 45th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia., 13 August 1897 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Porter |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 11 April 1917, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
Favreuil British Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Rockdale Municipal Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, R2730, 45th Infantry Battalion , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Port Nicholson embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, R2730, 45th Infantry Battalion , SS Port Nicholson, Sydney | |
| 11 Apr 1917: | Involvement Private, 2730, 45th Infantry Battalion , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2730 awm_unit: 45 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-04-11 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Arthur Thomas LUCAS (Service Number 2730) was born on 13th August 1897 at Brisbane. He commenced work with the Traffic Branch of the NSW Government Railways at a temporary junior porter in the Sydney District on 4th May 1915. After a few weeks he was made permanent on 12th June. Only three days after achieving permanency, and after only six weeks employment, Lucas was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.
Lucas enlisted at Liverpool a few days after he was granted leave from the Railways. He gave his mother as his next of kin, claimed three years’ service in the Cadets, gave his ‘calling’ as a ‘Railway Porter’ and his age as 18 years and 10 months. At least by his railway record, and they did usually require birth certificates, he was really 17 years and 10 months. His mother was complicit in this deceit as she not only gave her consent to his enlistment but wrote that he was 18-years-old.
He was allotted to the 8th Reinforcements of the 1st Battalion. Lucas embarked HMAT ‘Runic’ at Sydney on 9th August 1915. He embarked on HMAT ‘Borda’ from Alexandria ‘for front’ on 18th October. He was taken on the strength of his Battalion on Gallipoli on 4th November. By 30th November was in hospital with pneumonia, and back at the 2nd General Hospital at Alexandria by 8th December. It was not until 20th February 1916 that he was fit to join his unit. During the early months of 1916 the AIF regrouped in Egypt before moving to the Western Front in France. However, during this time Lucas was diagnosed with varicocle – a swelling of blood vessels in the scrotum – and this made him unfit for service, probably because it made marching painful. He returned to Australia for discharge on the transport ‘Clan McGillivray’, arriving in Sydney on 14th August.
By 30th October 1916 the condition was no longer an issue and Lucas, now attached to the 45th Battalion, returned to Europe on SS ‘Port Nicholson’, embarking at Sydney on 8th October. He reached Devonport (England) in January 1917. He joined the 12th Training Battalion at Codford for two months and proceeded overseas to France. He was taken on the strength of his unit on 6th April 1917.
After all the effort, and all the travel, his active military career lasted five days. He was wounded, with shrapnel to both buttocks and his head on 11th May 1917. He died that night at 11.30 pm. He was buried at Vaulx Main Dressing Station, 5th & 6th Australian Field Ambulance, 1¼ miles NE of Bapaume. Current AWM records show the grave as being in Favreuil British Cemetery, Calais.
The Australian War Memorial incorrectly records his age as 20 at the time of his death (based on information given at his enlistment). According to railway records he was still 19.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll an notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.