ROWLANDS, Thomas Llewellyn
| Service Number: | 202 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 5th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Palestine, 27 August 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Graceville War Memorial, Ipswich Soldier's Memorial Hall Great War, Ipswich Western Suburbs War Memorial, Oxley War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 202, 5th Light Horse Regiment, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Persic embarkation_ship_number: A34 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 202, 5th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Persic, Sydney | |
| 27 Aug 1916: | Involvement Trooper, 202, 5th Light Horse Regiment, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 202 awm_unit: 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment awm_rank: Trooper awm_died_date: 1916-08-27 |
Help us honour Thomas Llewellyn Rowlands's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Thomas Rowlands was born in Ipswich and attended the Southport School, then named Southport High School from 1907 to 1909. Sometime before 1914, his family moved to Oxley. Thomas enlisted on 14th October 1914 and gave his occupation as stockman. He was drafted into the 5th Light Horse, comprised almost exclusively of Queenslanders, which sailed from Sydney in December 1914 bound for Egypt.
After the initial landings at Gallipoli, the Light Horse was sent to the peninsula as reinforcements, without their horses. Thomas remained on Gallipoli from May until September 1915 when he was evacuated sick to Lemnos. He remained in hospital in Egypt until February 1916 when he rejoined his unit. By this time, the Light Horse was defending the Suez Canal, patrolling in the Sinai Peninsula.
On 27th August 1916, Thomas Rowlands was accidently killed when a water well he was digging collapsed. An enquiry into the incident reported that Trooper Rowland was alone at the bottom of the well, which was about 14feet deep. The working party had stopped for a smoke and Thomas sat down in the bottom of the well to rest. He was covered by about five foot of sand when the well wall collapsed. Witnesses reported that it took about 15 minutes to free him from the well shaft and that when he was brought to the surface, artificial respiration was administered for almost an hour until the medical officer arrived and pronounced Thomas deceased. The enquiry found that no person was to blame and that if Thomas had not been sitting down at the time he may well have survived unscathed.
His mates buried Thomas close to where he died at Bir El Abd and a Chaplain performed the burial service. The site of his burial was recorded, along with map references but by the time the war came to an end, all trace of the grave had been lost.
Thomas’s family received a parcel of his personal effects which as well as the usual letters and postcards contained a rubber stamp and two race programs. Thomas’ younger brother, Severne Llewelyn also enlisted in November 1915. He was severely wounded on the Western Front in early 1917 and was repatriated to Australia later that year with a war pension of one pound per fortnight.
Trooper Thomas Rowlands, 5th Light Horse is commemorated on the Oxley War Memorial, Brisbane; the Community Honour Board in the Chapel of St Alban the Martyr, The Southport School and the Jerusalem War Memorial Cemetery Israel.
Courtesy of Ian Lang
Mango Hill