STRAFFORD, Thomas Francis
| Service Numbers: | 4261, 4261A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 August 1915, Enlisted at Holdsworthy (now Holsworthy) |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia, 19 August 1896 |
| Home Town: | Millers Point, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Power House Shop Boy and Storeman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 18 September 1918, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4261, 4th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Holdsworthy (now Holsworthy) | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 4261, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 4261, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney | |
| 14 Feb 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Transferred from 1st Training Battalion at Zeitoun. | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 4261, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Shrapnel to left thigh. Admitted to No. 1 Stationary Hospital and then No. 11 Stationary Hospital at Rouen. He was invalided to England and the Graylingwell Hospital at Chichester, and in August 1916 discharged to the No. 1 Convalescent Depot at Perham Downs and No. 4 Convalescent Depot at Wareham in October. He remained unfit for front line service for most of 1917. | |
| 18 Sep 1918: | Involvement Private, 4261A, 2nd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4261A awm_unit: 2 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-09-18 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Thomas Francis STRAFFORD (Service Number 4261A) was born on 19th August 1896 at Crows Nest, Sydney. His first employment with the NSW Government Railways and Tramways was at the Ultimo Power House where he worked as a shop boy from 13th November 1912. He enlisted in the AIF on 23rd August 1915 at Holdsworthy (no Holsworthy). On his Attestation Papers he described his ‘trade or calling’ as being a storeman and gave his mother Johanna Strafford of Millers Point as his next of kin. AHe was allotted to the 13th Reinforcements to the 4th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Aeneas’ at Sydney on 20th December 1915.
On 14th February 1916 he was transferred from the 1st Training Battalion to the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion at Zeitoun (Egypt). On 22nd March he embarked at Alexandria for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 28th March. On 23rd July 1916 he was wounded with shrapnel to his left thigh. He was admitted to No. 1 Stationary Hospital and then No. 11 Stationary Hospital at Rouen. He was invalided to England and the Graylingwell Hospital at Chichester. In August 1916 he was discharged to the No. 1 Convalescent Depot at Perham Downs and in October to No. 4 Convalescent Depot at Wareham. He remained unfit for front line service for most of 1917. In July 1917 he was found guilty of being Absent Without Leave from 9.30 pm on 2nd July until he was apprehended at 7 pm on 5th July. For this offence he received 10 days Field Punishment No. 2 and forfeited 17 days’ pay.
He finally returned to the 2nd Battalion on 15th October 1917. In December he was sick and hospitalised with scabies. Although he returned to duty in January 1918, the disease recurred in February and he did not return again until April 1918. In June he attended a School of Instruction. Strafford was killed in action on 18th September 1918.
According to Captain J J Collingwood of the 2nd Battalion, he was killed:
‘instantaneously by shell fire on 18th September 1918 during an attack on the village of HARGICOURT’,
‘He was not buried by this Unit and no notification of his burial by another Unit has been received. We were relieved on 22.9.1918 by the 8th Aust. Bn.’
Evidently Strafford was buried in a makeshift or isolated grave, whose location was recorded well enough for it to be found after the war. The remains were exhumed and re-interred in the Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension, 6¾ miles East North East of Péronne, France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.