GREEN, Thomas Alexander
| Service Numbers: | SX22187, S1514 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 August 1942, Loveday, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Snowtown, South Australia, 15 June 1913 |
| Home Town: | Red Hill, Mid North, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Lake View School, Redhill School, Rostrevor College, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Balikpapan, Borneo, 1 July 1945, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Labuan War Cemetery Grave Reference: 6. B. 5., Labuan War Cemetery, Labuan, Malaysia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Red Hill District Memorial Arch Gates, Red Hill Honour Roll WW2, Redhill War Memorial, Rostrevor College WW2 Memorial Plaques |
World War 2 Service
| 11 Aug 1942: | Enlisted Private, SX22187, Loveday, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, SX22187, 2nd/10th Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Aug 1942: | Involvement Private, SX22187 | |
| 12 Aug 1942: | Involvement S1514 | |
| 1 Jul 1945: | Involvement Private, SX22187, 2nd/10th Infantry Battalion, Borneo - Operation Oboe May - August 1945 |
Help us honour Thomas Alexander Green's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Thomas Leo GREEN and Ethel Elizabeth nee ELLIS
LAKE VIEW
Quite a gloom was cast over the locality during the week past when the news came through that another of our local lads, Thomas Alexander Green, had been killed in action on
July 1. A lovable boy, of a happy go-lucky disposition, he had many friends who will sincerely grieve for his passing. His was the second name to go on the school roll at Lake View when the new school was opened in 1918. He later attended Redhill school, and then Rostrevor.
Early Mass at St. Martin's on Sunday was offered for him, and practically the whole congregation approached the altar rails on his behalf.
May his soul rest in peace.
Biography contributed by michael daly
Thomas is my cousin. He is honoured in the list of those from Redhill who lost their lives during World War II.
My research on Thomas's war service shows the misfortune he suffered. He was recruited as a national serviceman to the Australian Infantry Forces 2/10 Battalion. The Battalion saw service in the Middle East (Palestine), North Africa (Tobruk), Europe and later New Guinea in 1942, 1943 and again in 1944. Thomas survived all this.
On 1 July 1945 the battalion landed at Balikpapan in Borneo and stormed the heights of Parramatta Ridge. In ensuing days it cleared the Japanese from in and around Balikpapan town. Thomas was killed in action on the first day. Just a short 6 weeks before the end of hostilities and only 5 days before the Battalion was withdrawn into reserve on 6 July 1945.
He is commemorated in the Labuan War Cemetery and there is a plaque honouring the members of his unit at Rocky Creek War Memorial on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland.
I obtained more information about Thomas and the war from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Australian War Memorial. Thomas Alexander Green's name is located at 34 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial (as indicated by the poppy on the Memorial's plan).
There is more reading about Thomas's 2/10th Battalion available: awm.gov.au/units/unit_11261.asp.
Thomas's army record has been digitized by National Archives of Australia and a copy may be obtained from NAA using his service number SX22187 as a reference in your search.
A detailed history, "Purple and Blue - The History of the 2/10th Battalion" (4th Edition) by Frank Allchin of the 2/10th Battalion has been published. See the webpage regimental-books.com.au/purple-and-blue-the-history-of-the-210th-battalion-4th-edition-p-346.html. This link states:
" This book covers the history of this famous unit during its period of active service during The Second World War. Formed at Woodside, South Australia in October 1939; the Battalion had served as part of an anti-invasion force in the UK in the dark days of 1940. It was meant to support the British Expeditionary Force in France but reached the UK just after Dunkirk. As part of the 18th Brigade of the renowned 7th Division (The Silent Seventh) it moved to the Middle East, where in 1941, it played a significant part in stopping the German under Field Marshall Rommel holding Tobruk. Then followed service until early 1942, on the Syrian-Turkish border, where another German attack threatened."
" The Battalion then returned to Australia after Japan entered the war; and so our country was at risk. After brief home leave and moves to Tenterfield and Kilcoy, in August 1942 it moved to Milne Bay, in Papua. With its’ sister Battalions the 2/9th and 2/12th, they stopped the Japanese for the first time on land as the Japanese tried to take Milne Bay air base. The end of 1942 and early 1943 saw the Battalion help defeat the Japanese at Buna and Sanananda; but at great cost 113 men killed and 205 wounded."
" After returning to the Atherton Tablelands in Australia for rest and reinforcement, the Battalion went back to Papua New Guinea for the battle in the Ramu Valley in 1944. Its final commitment was “Oboe 2” – the landing at Balikpapan in Borneo, in 1945. The 2/10th Battalion AIF was disbanded on the 29th of December 1945, at the scene of their final action, in Balikpapan."
Until recently Thomas's name was included in Rostrevor Old Collegians Roll of Honour. Rostrevor is a Christian Brothers school in Adelaide, South Australia. The site for the link no longer appears to be current - it was:
rostrevor.sa.edu.au/community/wwii-honour-roll. The other links above are accurate as at 11 February 2017.
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