Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas McQuhae was born on 6 August, 1896, in Kirkcaldy, Fife. At the age of 16 he embarked on the Somerset at Liverpool, arriving in Sydney on the 3 June, 1913. His profession as recorded on the passenger list was apprentice.

When Thomas enlisted at Glebe, New South Wales, on the 23 October, 1917, he was a single, 21-year-old iron moulder. Although he originally came from Scotland, Thomas had an uncle, Samuel Boothman, living at Corryong in the Upper Murray. His enlistment papers describe a young man, 5 foot 6 inches tall (168 cm), weighing 140 lbs (64 kg), with a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. Thomas gave his religious denomination as Presbyterian.

Upon being accepted into the AIF, Trooper Thomas McQuhae, service number 3724, was initially sent to the camp at the Sydney Showgrounds and then sent to the Recruit Training Squadron at Menangle Park, south-west of Sydney. On the 5 November, 1917, he was placed on strength with the 34th Reinforcements for the 1st Light Horse Regiment. Six days before Christmas Day, 1917, Thomas along with the other reinforcements, embarked on HMAT A28 Ulysses at Sydney and sailed for service overseas.

On the 16 January, 1918, Thomas disembarked at Suez and marched into the Reinforcement Camp situated at Moascar near the Suez Canal. Two months later, after training in desert conditions, Thomas joined the 1st Light Horse as it was moving northward in the push towards Damascus.

During the period from February to May, 1918, the 1st Light Horse Regiment, and therefore Thomas, was involved in operations to clear and occupy the west bank of the Jordan River. One of the raids that took place during this time was that on the village of Es Salt (see image on next page), 23 kilometres west of Amman. Initially, the village was taken but increased Turkish resistance eventually forced a withdrawal back to Jordan on 3 May, 1918.

After Thomas’ baptism of fire in the early part of 1918, he was sent to a training school at El Arish. He would remain for three weeks before rejoining the 1st Light Horse Regiment back at Moascar. One month before the Armistice with Germany, Thomas was admitted to hospital sick with malaria. He would be transferred to the 36th Stationary Hospital at Gaza and placed on the dangerously ill list. It would be well into January 1919 before Thomas was discharged from hospital and sent on 14 days leave in Cairo. This would be his last opportunity to take in the sights and sounds of that city before embarking on HMNZT Ulimaroa and returning to Australia

Thomas was finally discharged from the AIF on the 8 June, 1919. For his service during the war, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

In 1921 he married Dorothy Mary (Doll) Cornell (1893 to 1959) in Newtown, New South Wales. They had one child during their marriage. Electoral rolls indicate that Thomas and Doll lived in the Brunswick area of Melbourne during their lifetime. He died on 8 December, 1970, in Melbourne, Victoria, at the age of 74.

Extract from "Light Horsemen of the Upper Murray", Year 5 and 6 Project, Corryong College.