MCKINSTRY, Thomas Marshall
| Service Number: | 238 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 May 1915, Place of enlistment - Bendigo, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, February 1896 |
| Home Town: | Goornong, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Hand |
| Died: | Killed in Action -, Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium, 4 October 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave, Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Goornong District Honor Roll WW1, Goornong Memorial Hall Sergeant Thomas McKinstry Patriotic Certificate, Goornong Presbyterian Church Honour Roll , Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 10 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 238, 21st Infantry Battalion, Place of enlistment - Bendigo, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 238, 21st Infantry Battalion, Embarked on HMAT 'A38' Ulysses from Melbourne on 10th May 1915. | |
| 19 Dec 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 21st Infantry Battalion | |
| 15 Apr 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 21st Infantry Battalion, Had been a Temporary Corporal from 15th February 1917. | |
| 1 Aug 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 21st Infantry Battalion, Had been a Temporary Sergeant from 10th May 1917. | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 238, 21st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 238 awm_unit: 21st Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-10-04 |
Pte THOMAS MARSHALL McKINSTRY
From Frank Mahieu
Battle of Broodseinde 4 October 1917, remembering brothers who were killed that day: On 4 October 1917 both Australian brothers ANDREW HUGH McKINSTRY and THOMAS MARSHALL McKINSTRY of Bendigo (Victoria, Australia) serving with 21st Battalion (6th. Bgd, 2nd Div), Australian Imperial Force were killed at Broodseinde Ridge during 3rd Ypres. A third brother, James, survived the war. Andrew is buried at Tyne Cot Cemetery, Thomas is commemorated at Menin Gate Memorial. With text and story, Exhortation and Kohima, flowers and remembrance card, Anthem and pipe tunes beautifully performed by my pal Gil we honoured these two fallen brothers. May they rest in Peace.
Submitted 6 October 2019 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of William John and Charlotte McKINSTRY, of Goornong, Victoria.
Brother of
- 2597 Private Arthur Laggart McKINSTRY - , 15th Light Horse Regiment, returned to Australia 28th August 1919 (born 1888)
- 237 Private James Alexander McKINSTRY - 2nd Pioneer Battalion, returned to Australia late 1916 (born 1894)
- 5152 Private Andrew Hugh McKINSTRY - 21st Infantry Battalion, killed in action Belguim 4th October 1917 (born 1897) [Killed on the same day as his brother Thomas, who was serving in the same unit]
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
WW1 Brothers who died the same day by Frank Mahieu
Remembering ANDREW & THOMAS McKINSTRY A.I.F. killed 4 Oct. 1917.
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On 4 October 1917 both brothers ANDREW HUGH McKINSTRY and THOMAS MARSHALL McKINSTRY of Bendigo (Victoria, Australia) serving with 21st Battalion (6th. Bgd, 2nd Div), Australian Imperial Force were killed at Broodseinde Ridge during 3rd Ypres. A third brother, Private Arthur Laggart McKinstry, 15th Light Horse Regiment, survived the war and returned home.
THOMAS, a Bendigo (Victoria) farmhand aged almost 20, enlisted on 18 January 1915 into the original complement of 21st Battalion. He served at Anzac, Gallipoli from 29 August 1915 until evacuated with dysentery on 2 October 1915 to recover in England. He rejoined his battalion in France on 2 July 1916 to fight at Pozieres and rose to Sergeant before being wounded and initially posted missing on 4 October 1917 at Passchendaele Ridge. Eyewitness reports noted him “killed by concussion – no marks on him”. Thomas’ body was lost and he is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. His brother ANDREW, also from Bendigo and a labourer, enlisted aged almost 19 on 11 January 1916, also into 21st Battalion. He was taken on strength of 5th Battalion on 21 July 1916 before succumbing to pneumonia in November, his return to active service being further delayed by VD in England before returning to 57th on 27 April 1917 and transferring back to 21st Battalion on 8 July 1917. Like his brother, he was initially known to be wounded but he was never brought in and was later determined to have been killed in action on 4 October 1917. His body was later recovered and Andrew buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, Belgium.
THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.
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