Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Frederick James Thomson Lieutenant 49th Battalion

Frederick Thomson was the only son of John and Teresa Thomson of “Kingsley” Beanga Street, Greenslopes. John Thomson may have been the Shire Clerk in the Coorparoo Shire. Frederick Thomson gave his occupation as public servant when he enlisted and other correspondence from his father indicates that Frederick was employed in the Land Court Registry in Brisbane. There is no record of a Roll of Honour circular for Frederick so it is uncertain where he went to school but his name appears on the Roll of Honour of the Coorparoo Methodist Church where he may have been a member of the congregation.

When Frederick presented himself for enlistment on 19th November 1915, he was just one month shy of his 26th birthday. His work colleagues at the Land Court Registry presented him with an engraved wristwatch. Frederick was drafted as a private into the 6th reinforcements of the 49th Battalion, which had been created out of veterans from the 9th Battalion, and both battalions were comprised exclusively of Queenslanders. He embarked from Sydney in the “Hawkes Bay” for overseas on 20th April 1916 with the rank of acting corporal; arriving in Alexandria on 6th June 1916.

Frederick arrived in Plymouth on 16th June 1916 for further training before finally arriving in France on 16th September. The first action for the 49th was to go into the line at Mouquet Farm, near Pozieres. From there the battalion moved north to the Ypres salient before returning to the Somme as 1916 drew to a close. On 13th December 1916, Frederick was promoted to Lance Corporal.

The 49th was deployed again to Flanders in 1917 where Frederick was promoted to Corporal before the battle of Messines, and then to Sergeant while still in the line. The rapid promotions gained by Frederick are indication that he possessed leadership potential, as well as highlighting the impact that casualties were having upon the battalion.

By August 1917, Frederick had been selected as a candidate for a commission and was sent to the Officers Commissioning Battalion in Oxford. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 29th November 1917 and two weeks later rejoined his battalion which was wintering behind the line in Flanders. The campaigns in Flanders during 1917 had witnessed an increased use of gas as a weapon, particularly mustard gas which caused severe casualties at Passchendaele; and perhaps in an effort to better counter gas attack, 2nd Lieutenant Thomson was posted to the 10th Corps Gas School on 24th February 1918.

The spring of 1918 heralded the start of the German Spring Offensive in the Somme. Ludendorff launched Operation Michael in March and the well rested and trained German divisions made significant gains advancing from Bullecourt west towards the vital rail junction at Amiens. The British divisions which opposed the onslaught could not hold the line and began an inglorious withdrawal. Haig; Supreme British Commander, called in the newly formed Australian Corps from Flanders under John Monash to halt the advance.

By the time Frederick had rejoined his battalion from gas school, they were holding the line at Dernacourt. On the 5th April, the 13th Brigade, of which the 49th was part, faced one of the heaviest infantry attacks of the war. The 49th was defending a railway embankment but the Germans managed to cut them off from the flank support by pouring through a railway underpass. The 12th and 13th Brigades were attempting to halt 2 and a half German Divisions. This was perhaps the greatest action by Australians on the Western Front. At that time entire infantry brigades in the AIF were down to less than half strength. At 5:00pm the 49th along with the 45th Battalion counterattacked to regain the embankment. Frederick was promoted to Lieutenant on 17th April 1918 and led his sections in the decisive battle of Villers Bretonneux on ANZAC Day 1918, when the German advance was halted at this small village within sight of Amiens.

Operation Michael had failed and Monash’s Corps engaged in a period of “peaceful penetration” (it was far from peaceful, but it allowed the AIF to prepare for the offensive battles to come at Hamel in July and Amiens in August).

June 1918 was recorded in the 49th Battalion diary as a “quiet month”, with only one officer and 14 other ranks killed in action. Unfortunately for Frederick Thomson, he was the one officer killed on 10th June, probably by artillery fire. Frederick was buried on the battlefield near Sailley Le Sec and his grave was clearly marked. From July 1918, the battle would move east and so isolated graves would remain undisturbed.

The return of Frederick’s personal effects was the cause of a deal of correspondence between his father and the military. In particular, John Thomson was anxious to receive the engraved watch presented to his son when he enlisted and a pistol which he stated had been taken by his son from a German officer. The records show that a watch was finally returned, but it was the wrong one and it was broken. The pistol seemed to have disappeared.

The remains of Lt. Frederick Thomson were exhumed in August 1919 and reinterred in the cemetery at Villers Bretonneux. This cemetery would eventually be included in the Australian National Memorial Villers Bretonneux which was not opened until 1938.

The John Oxley Library has in its collection a photograph of “Kingsley” at Greenslopes taken in 1929. A couple are standing on the front stairs, perhaps John and Teresa Thomson. “Kingsley” now somewhat changed still stands. A street nearby off Henzell Terrace is named Thomson Street.