MAXWELL, Thomas Reginald
| Other Name: | Smithe, Thomas Reginald |
|---|---|
| Service Numbers: | 826, 2410A, 3663 |
| Enlisted: | 11 June 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 41st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dubbo, New South Wales, 20 July 1875 |
| Home Town: | Longreach, Longreach, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Stockman |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 7 December 1951, aged 76 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane, Qld Anzac Portion 8 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Trooper, 826, 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
|---|
World War 1 Service
| 11 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2410A, 9th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2410A, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Shropshire embarkation_ship_number: A9 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Aug 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2410A, 47th Infantry Battalion, 1st MD, Medically Discharged | |
| 2 Mar 1918: | Involvement Private, 3663, 41st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Ormonde embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 2 Mar 1918: | Embarked Private, 3663, 41st Infantry Battalion, SS Ormonde, Sydney | |
| 16 Jan 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3663, 41st Infantry Battalion, 1st MD, Medically unfit (overage and senility) |
Help us honour Thomas Reginald MAXWELL's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Australian Remembrance Army
Thomas Reginald Maxwell (Service Nos: Boer War 826 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles, WWI 2409 47th Battalion/3663 41st Battalion), a Boer War and Australian World War One veteran, is among almost 800 previously unmarked WWI veterans’ graves in Lutwyche Cemetery we have now honoured with a plaque recognising their service for Australia.
National Archives Australia indicated that he also had an alias as Thomas Reginald SMITHE SERN 3663.
On 23 September 2023, his plaque was unveiled in Lutwyche Cemetery, along with a further 300 plaques on the previously unmarked graves of Australian World War One veterans:
See From Australian Remembrance Army Facebook Page
Thomas Reginald Maxwell was born on 20 July 1875 in Dubbo, New South Wales, to Bennett Marley Maxwell and Bridget Mary Maxwell (née Hall). Before enlistment he worked as a station hand in western Queensland and had previously served in the Boer War. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Cunnamulla on 11 June 1915, aged 39, joining the 47th Battalion as Private 2409 and naming his sister, Miss W. M. Maxwell, as next of kin. He embarked on 20 August 1915, trained in Egypt, and proceeded to France, disembarking at Marseilles on 8 June 1916.
On 22 August 1916, while serving on the Western Front, he was wounded in action, receiving a gunshot wound to the face. Treated at the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station and 26th General Hospital, Etaples, he was later transferred through Boulogne and Marseilles before evacuation to England suffering from rheumatism and bronchitis. Classified medically unfit, he returned to Australia aboard Themistocles and was discharged in Brisbane on 17 August 1917 as unfit and over age.
Determined to continue serving, he re-enlisted under the assumed name Thomas Reginald Smithe at Charleville on 23 February 1918, becoming Private 3663 with the 41st Battalion. He embarked from Sydney aboard Ormonde, proceeded via Egypt to England, and later to France in May 1918. Soon after arrival he was hospitalised with bronchitis and reclassified for home service. Returning to Australia aboard Orontes, he was discharged in Brisbane on 16 January 1919, his disability recorded as “senility.”
In a statutory declaration made at Longreach in June 1920, he confirmed his two enlistments—first under his own name and later under an alias—and requested his records be corrected. After the war he led a transient life, moving between Queensland and New South Wales. He was in the Dubbo district in 1925, at St George, Queensland, in 1930, working at Gwydir near Dubbo in 1932, living in Brisbane in 1937 and 1943, and in Sydney in 1939 and 1946. His movements reflect the unsettled life of a single returned serviceman seeking work while enduring the lasting effects of his wartime wounds and ill health.
Private Thomas Reginald Maxwell died on 7 December 1951, aged 76, and was buried four days later in Anzac Portion 8, Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane. He never married and had no known children.
After decades without recognition at his place of burial, his grave now bears a plaque commemorating his service to Australia — ensuring his name endures among those remembered for their duty and sacrifice. His identity and dignity have now been restored.
We have remembered him.
Lest We Forget.
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