Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thabet ‘Suby’ Subeih (3937), a Yemeni, was born in Bombay, India and came to Australia around 1895 at the age of 29. His military record said that he was born in Bombay and lived there for 29 years – it was said, ‘he is a Gurkha’, a compliment giving him some local ‘fame’. He lived in Fremantle and Sydney, was a single man, described as of ‘sallow com-plexion’, whose religion was recorded as ‘Mohammedan’ [Muslim]. His occupation was a tea and coffee merchant known as Thabet Suby Mockbell. He was a business partner with Kabell Mockbell who ran a coffee business trading as Mockbell Brothers in the prestigious ‘Imperial Arcade’ in Sydney, selling ‘Fez’ brand coffee. By 1904 Thabet Suby changed the name of the Imperial Arcade business to ‘Suby’s Café’. Thabet married Allarina Chate in 1889 according to Anglican rites and they had two daughters, Zainab and Mariam.

With his business and personal life in ‘tatters’, Thabet packed up and moved from Sydney and settled in East Fremantle. He set up a tea and coffee merchant business in Fremantle and Perth which he ran in the years prior to the war. He became good friend with Sher-bourne Newman and his family of East Fremantle, and just prior to enlistment Thabet signed a will which left all his property to the Newmans [in the event of his death]. He later wrote a little farewell note to the Newman children in Arabic which translated as: ‘Farewell my dear little friends, I hope that we might meet again after the war’.

He left his thriving café business behind, and enlisted in Perth on 19 October 1915 giving a false declaration that he was 35 years old. His next of kin was his uncle Mahouied Ala. He signed his application for enlistment in English and Arabic. On 12 February 1916 he em-barked on HMAT Miltiades with the 9th Reinforcements, 28th Battalion. He served in the Middle East, England and France, serving as a Corporal. Thabet was well-educated, being fluent in English, French and Arabic. He was also an interpreter in the AIF. On 9. 9. 1916, he was deployed to France, however, the next month, he became seriously ill and was trans-ferred to the London War Hospital. It was his asthma and bronchitis which he suffered prior to enlistment which reoccurred during his service. During his hospital stay, he surprisingly confessed to being 50 years old. His Medical Report on 17 December 1916 stated he was an invalid: ‘Thabet suffered from asthma prior to enlistment aggravated by active service. He is continually reporting sick, and unable to do much work, and his left leg is affected by rheumatic pains … his heart is weak …harsh breadth sounds ... He has a hacking cough’.

His example as a soldier, after everything else, demonstrates Thabet’s attachment to the army and his commitment to serve was more important to him than his age. About six months later, on 6 June 1917, he was recommended for discharge. Being permanently un-fit for military services, he returned to Australia on 17 March 1917 and was discharged in June 1917. Upon arrival in Australia, his ‘guiding thought’ was to further contribute to Aus-tralia’s war cause. Two months later, because of his language skills, he applied for a posi-tion as an interpreter in Hindu and Arabic to the AIF in Mesopotamia. The communication from the Captain, to Censor said: ‘It is understood that Mr Thabet Suby has been used in Egypt by the AIF for interpreting work ... he is reported as a man of good character’. On 1 October 1917, Captain C Hill, Censor, to GSO in response: ‘Translations from Hindustani and Arabic are seldom required at this office, but I will be glad to avail myself of Mr Suby’s services in that direction whenever it becomes necessary’.

After finding himself in better health, in September 1917, Thabet joined the 5th Military District Guard in Fremantle and served with them until October 1918, when he was dis-charged from home service medically unfit from this unit. He was issued with the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medial and the Victory Medal. When discharged, Thabet re-turned to his home in East Fremantle but sadly found that his friend, Sherbourne Newman, had died in March 1917. In 1920, he left Australia and moved to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), estab-lishing his tea and spice company T Suby Pty Ltd and also importing sheep from Australia. He remarried in Ceylon and had one son called Amin, from the marriage. He continued his father’s company and later became the Yemeni ambassador to Sri Lanka. Thabet, passed away in Ceylon in 1948.

From the book:

Dzavid Haveric, 'A History of Muslims in the Australian Military from 1885 to 1945: Loyalty, Patriotism, Contribution’, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, London, 2024