14422
DEERE, Thomas Monckton
| Service Number: | 3087 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Strathalbyn, South Australia, 1885 |
| Home Town: | Strathalbyn, Alexandrina, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Fireman and Engineer |
| Died: | Strathalbyn, SA, Australia, 4 February 1925, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Lower North Adelaide War Memorial WW1, North Adelaide Saint Cyprian's Anglican Church Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3087, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3087, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Poppy MacDonald
Thomas Monckton Deere
Thomas Monckton Deere was a private in the 27th Battalion during World War 1, born in the year 1885.
Before Deere served in the army, he was a fireman and an engineer who lived in Strathalbyn. He lived a simple life with his wife Mrs. Lilian Maude Deere, also known as his next of kin.
Deere was a middle aged man, 30 to be precise, when he enlisted at Adelaide to join the army on the 9th of August 1915. After being accepted his service number was 3087, and he ranked as private in the 27th Battalion, embarking from Adelaide on the 12th of January 1916.
As the war went for longer and Deere became older, he and his wife became distant towards each other, never communicating via letters.
On the 4th of August 1916, the 27th Battalion were fighting in the soon to be famous battle named Pozieres. Unfortunately for Deere he was shot in the mid-thigh. He was sent to England to be examined and treated, the result being an amputated leg: 4 inches below his hip there was nothing. Deere was deemed unfit for service and this impacted his livelihood, meaning he wouldn’t be able to get a job when he returned home: in other words, his financial career was over.
Finally, on the 3rd of July 1917, Deere was given the ‘ok’ and left the English hospital to go home to his wife who had sent many letters to Deere’s commander inquiring about her husband who hadn’t arrived home after the war injury.
Almost a month later on the 23rd of the August 1917, Deere fell dangerously ill and was medicated in a local Australian hospital. He had gangrene on his ’stump’, as the doctors referred to it. The result being to re-amputate his leg, as the first amputation wasn’t done properly, causing the infection. After the re-amputation, he healed from his wounds.
Back home, he soon became a well-known pianist in the once small town of Strathalbyn where he was born and raised. In 1922 on the 4th of July, Deere received a medal (which hadn’t been verified at the time) for his commitment in fighting for his mother country. When he was the age of 39 Deere passed away on the 4th of February 1925.
Biography by Poppy Mac Donald
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