THWAITE, Rowland Leslie James
| Service Number: | 3459 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Alexandria, New South Wales, Australia, 12 February 1891 |
| Home Town: | Parramatta, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Boilermakers' Assistant |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 22 July 1916, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket Loco Boiler Shop Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Parramatta Superior Public School Great War Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3459, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3459, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Rowland Leslie James THWAITE (Service Number 3459) was born on 12th February 1891 at Alexandria. He was employed by the NSW Railways as a temporary boilermakers’ helper at Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops from 26th November 1912. On 23rd August 1915 he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.
He enlisted at Warwick Farm a couple of weeks later, giving his father James Rowland Thwaites, living in North Parramatta as his next of kin and citing 18 months military service with the junior cadets. He was allotted to the 11th Reinforcements to the 3rd Australian Infantry Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Euripides’ at Sydney on 2nd November 1915. He was taken on strength of the 3rd Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir (Egypt) on 5th February 1916.
With the Gallipoli campaign over, the focus was moving to the Western Front in France. Thwaite embarked HT ‘Grampian’ at Alexandria for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force through Marseilles where he passed on 28th March. He was reported missing in action after the intense battles at Pozières between 22nd and 27th July 1916. It was not until a Court of Enquiry was held in November 1916 that it was determined that he had been killed during that period.
Pte. J W Millard (1091) gave written evidence that:
‘He was in A Co. On the 25th July I saw him lying between our old line and the German front line which we had taken two days before. He had been hit by a shell. I stayed with him till he died in a few minutes. He was conscious, and told me that a shell had got him. He had been hit in the head. I do not know where he was buried. He was 5’8”, dark, cleanshaven, thick built, about 22 or 23. I do not know where he came from.’
In 1918 his parents wrote to the military authorities:
‘Strange to say we have never heard anything as to how he was killed or where he was buried and we have not received any of his belongings.’
He has no known grave and is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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