Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Henry Kirk was born on September 1896 near the town of Glenelg. He was raised by his parents Isabella Whelan Kirk and J.H. Kirk. He grew up at 72 William Street, Norwood, South Australia. His religion was the Church of England and his profession was a motor driver.

At the age of nineteen, he was a single man when he decided to enlist for the AIF in 1915 on the 9th of August.  After enlisting, he was originally assigned to the 2nd Depot Battalion, but within a month, he was transferred to the 27th Infantry Battalion 7th Reinforcement and was given a regiment number of 3187. His role in the army was a private, which had the lowest ranking, and he was required to do the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. These included fighting in the front line during war. He was then sent to Mitcham for rigorous training to prepare for the war ahead. Later his unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia on the HMAT A7 Medic. The ship was owned by the Oceanic SN Co Ltd in Liverpool and it made its way to France.  He became seriously ill not long after he embarked on the HMAT A7 Medic and was admitted to hospital on the 12th of April 1916. After receiving treatment for pneumonia, he made a steady recovery and was removed from the hospital. Within a month, he became ill again and on the 12th of May 1916, he embarked the H.S Brighton to go to England. In England, he was in a hospital in Chatham where he was recovering from pneumonia and empyema.

While he spent his time in hospital, the rest of his battalion was still fighting in the war. One of the battles was The Battle of the Somme. This battle was fought by the British and French Empires against the German Empire. The war started on the 1st of July 1916 and lasted until the 18th of November 1916. The British attack was planned by Douglas Haig and Henry Rawlinson from the GOC Fourth Army British Expeditionary Force. The first day started off tragic, with the British forces losing 57,470 casualties. The German defence had skilled men in artillery that fired deep into the British trenches. The Battle of the Somme was a major battle in France, but some of the 27th Battalion were also fighting in minor battles, especially the Battle of Pozières. Pozières is a small village in the valley of the Somme and is considered a very important battle because Pozières Ridge was a prime, first-rate observation point to the surrounding countryside. The task of seizing the land was given to the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions, with the help of the 48th British Division and the battle was expected to be over in a day. Unfortunately, the battle took two long weeks from the 23rd July to 7th August 1916 and many lives were lost before the Australian and British troops received their well-deserved victory.

After these main battles were over, Thomas was still extremely ill in hospital and remained unable to fight for several months. During his sickness, he was marching in and out of Weymouth, Wareham and Perham Downs. These were all locations that had facilities to house soldiers who were unfit for duty due to wounds, sickness or for training. Weymouth was especially housing those that were not expected to be fit for war within six months and instead, were going to return to Australia. Thomas had spent majority of his time at the war in hospital until the 4th of May 1917 where he boarded the H.S Themistocles from Devonport, returning to Australia. He disembarked on the 2nd of July 1917 and was discharged on the 24th of August 1917 because he was medically unfit. His total service in the Australian Imperial Forces was 2 years and 14 days, with 1 year and 172 days being served overseas.

Although Thomas couldn’t be involved in the war, he was still awarded two medals for being a part of the army. He received the British war medal that awarded to officers and men of the British and Imperial Forces who served overseas between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918 inclusive. This was later extended to services in Russia, Siberia and some other areas in 1919 and 1920. He also received the Victory medal. It was decided that each of the allies of the British troops should each issue their own bronze victory medal with a similar design, similar equivalent wording and identical ribbon. The medal was designed by W. McMillan and the front has a winged classical figure representing victory. Approximately 5.7 million victory medals were issued, but interestingly, eligibility for this medal was more restrictive and not everyone who received the British War Medal also received the Victory Medal.

During his time serving overseas, Thomas actually had to face trial where he had 27 days’ worth of pay forfeited but the reason is unknown. This was a total of 615 pounds deducted from his salary.  

Thomas Henry Kirk died on the14 December 1971 and was buried at the Centennial Park Cemetery, Goodwood Rd, Pasadena

Some of the qualities of what it means to be ANZAC include courage and bravery, strength, perseverance, selflessness and pride. All the soldiers that enlisted showed at least one of the qualities while serving in the army. The soldiers also demonstrated ANZAC spirit. The ANZAC spirit is the qualities and characteristics that the Australian and New Zealand soldiers possessed, especially those who lost their lives serving for their country. Ways that soldiers demonstrated ANZAC spirit was enlisting to fight in war, even if they were scared, risking their life for their country and putting someone’s safety before their own. Thomas showed ANZAC spirit by enlisting to be a part of the war, even if he didn’t end up participating. He felt lots of pride in his country and wanted to create a better future for the next generations.

Bibliography

National Archives of Australia, (2017) Available at: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/ [accessed 26th Feb. 2017]

Service Record from National Archives of Australia, (2017) Available at: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/ [accessed 26th Feb. 2017]

Longlongtrail.co.uk. (2017). The Battle of Neuve Chapelle – The Long, Long Trail. [online] Available at: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battle-of-neuve-chapelle/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2017].

Greatwar.co.uk. (2017). British Campaign Medals of the First World War (WW1). [online] Available at: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-campaign-medals.htm [Accessed 2 Mar. 2017].

Aif.adfa.edu.au. (2017). Details. [online] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=166502 [Accessed 27 Feb. 2017].

Awm.gov.au. (2017). Researching a First World War soldier: a step by step guide | Australian War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/research/infosheets/research-ww1-soldier/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2017].

Reign, W (ed.) 2011, Pearson History 8, Pearson Australia, Melbourne.

Somme, 1. (2017). Battle of the Somme - World War I - HISTORY.com. [online] HISTORY.com. Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme [Accessed 4 Mar. 2017].

Longlongtrail.co.uk. (2017). The Battle of Neuve Chapelle – The Long, Long Trail. [online] Available at: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battle-of-neuve-chapelle/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2017].

Bbc.co.uk. (2017). BBC - History - World Wars: Soldiers' Stories Audio Gallery. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/soldiers_stories_gallery_04.shtml [Accessed 4 Mar. 2017].

Ewhurstfallen.co.uk. (2017). Sartorius Euston. [online] Available at: http://www.ewhurstfallen.co.uk/Men-research/sartorius/sartorius.htm [Accessed 6 Mar. 2017].

Education of Queensland. (2017). The Battle of the Somme. [online] Available at: http://education.qld.gov.au/students/grants/scholarships/anzac/docs/pozieres.pdf [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].

Weymouthanzacs.moonfruit.com. (2017). THE CAMPS - Anzacs in Weymouth Dorset in WW1. [online] Available at: http://weymouthanzacs.moonfruit.com/the-camps/4575540279 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2017].