OATES, Thomas Charles
| Service Number: | NX6007 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 November 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, 15 August 1905 |
| Home Town: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Gurwood Street School, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Business Manager |
| Died: | Accidental, Palestine, 2 September 1940, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
Gaza War Cemetery, Israel and Palestine (including Gaza) |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Wagga Wagga Cenotaph |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, NX6007 | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Nov 1939: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX6007, 2nd/4th Infantry Battalion | |
| 10 Jan 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX6007, 2nd/4th Infantry Battalion, embarked Sydney for Gaza |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Thomas Charles Oates (Service No:NX6007) enlisted in the AIF on 3 November 1939 - appointed Driver - and was treated in hospital at Randwick for a fractured ankle before embarking from Sydney for Gaza on 10 January 1940. Private Oates - attached to 2/4th Infantry Battalion - was on duty on 2 September 1940 when the vehicle he was driving in blackout conditions hit an unknown object and rolled. Private Oates died in hospital as a result of a fractured skull - the first WWII death from Wagga Wagga.
Charlie was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales in 1905, fourth of five children of Hugh Oates (b1869 in Clunes, Victoria) and Hannah Tyson (b1867 in Clunes, Victoria). Hugh and Hannah married in Victoria in 1892, and moved to Glen Innes in New South Wales in 1893, settling in Wagga Wagga in the early 1900s. Hugh was a Tailor and Mercer, and served as a Justice of the Peace and District Coroner, Alderman and Mayor of Wagga Wagga. Active in his Church, he was a Trustee, Circuit Steward and Lay Preacher (riding his bicycle to outlying parishes), and was a member of the Wagga Base Hospital Board and President of the Gurwood Street School Parents and Citizens Association. Hugh served in the Militia, and in 1917 (April - July) enlisted in the AIF before being Discharged as Medically Unfit.
Charlie joined the Commercial Bank of Australia (CBA), initially as a Clerk and then Bank Manager in Sydney. In 1923 in Sydney, Charlie married Linda Margaret Bance (b1901 in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales). In the early 1930s Charlie and Linda returned to Wagga Wagga, where they raised their family and Charlie worked as a Salesman, Poultry Farmer and Business Manager. Following Charlie's death in 1940, Linda lived in Bribaree, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria - where she died in 1968.