MCGEACHIE, Thomas
| Service Number: | 1606 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Newmilns, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1892 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Newmilns Public School, Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Occupation: | Bush clearer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Hill 60, Belgium, 5 September 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) Plot VI, Row M, Grave No. 15 Name is on the Newmilns War Memorial Scotland, Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cootamundra War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1606, 2nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Feb 1915: | Involvement Private, 1606, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Feb 1915: | Embarked Private, 1606, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Sydney | |
| 5 Sep 1916: | Involvement Sergeant, 1606, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1606 awm_unit: 2 Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1916-09-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Thomas McGeachie was born in Scotland and came out to Australia with his brother James during 1912. Thomas was wounded in action at Gallipoli on the 28 July 1915 and evacuated to Egypt with injuries to his eyes. His brother James McGeachie 18th Battalion AIF was killed in action during the attack on Hill 60 at Gallipoli shortly after on 22 August 1915. Thomas returned to Egypt in December 1915 and was made a Lance Corporal shortly after. He was promoted to Sergeant after the Pozieres battle in France.
During a changeover of the 2nd Battalion with the 4th Battalion at Hill 60 in Belgium, a minenwerfer mortar bomb exploded on a dugout, killing McGeachie and 10 other officers and men of the 2nd Battalion HQ unit and 2 men from the 4th Battalion, at about midday on 5 September 1916. All thirteen were buried in a row in the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground Cemetery at Ypres, Belgium. The thirteen men lie in Plot VI, Row M, Grave Numbers 8 to 20. The incident is described in the book Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front by H.G. Hartnett of the 2nd Battalion AIF.
Ironic that both brothers were killed at Hill 60, in different countries.