SWAN, Thomas Rayner
| Service Number: | 275 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rainham, Kent, England, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Milsons Point, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | National School, Rainham, Kent, England |
| Occupation: | Labourer and Bridge builder |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 20 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 275, 5th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orvieto embarkation_ship_number: A3 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 275, 5th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Orvieto, Melbourne |
Help us honour Thomas Rayner Swan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Birth registered in Milton, Kent as
Births Jun 1890 Swan Thomas Rainer Milton 2a 838.
He had served briefly in the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment.
At the 1901 Census, his siblings were recorded as:
Emma, Lily, Victoria, Mildred & Flo.
Parents: Benjamin, born 1857, a General Labourer & wife Sarah, born 1859, living at Red Brick Cottages, Rainham, Kent, also Edward Swan, father of Benjamin, a Widower, age 83yrs, Labourer.
At attestation he gave his mother’s address as 63 Ivy Street, Rainham.
Thomas enlisted (22 Aug.1914) as a Private in the 5th Battalion, Machine Gun Section.
His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria on board HMAT A3, 'Orvieto' on 21 October 1914.
He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (D.C.M) for bravery in the field and he was also Mentioned in Despatches. He rose in the ranks from Private, through Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant to Company Sergeant Major.
He was wounded at Gallipoli-shell shrapnel to the head and eye.
He is remembered on the Rainham, Kent War Memorial [Plate 3] which stands in the High Street, Rainham, just outside the perimeter of St Margaret's Church. It is in the form of a Celtic style, Cornish granite, cross with a patterned relief on both the shaft and the cross of the memorial, the whole is mounted on a tapered plinth which has the names inscribed. The memorial rests on a stepped base. It was unveiled 12 December 1920 by Major General H F Thuiller, the builders were Messrs. Millen & Chrisfield and the site cost £520.
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