02 October 2016

Fred William Thomas 1894-1917

From the pages of the James Spencer White Album

fred-thomas1fred-thomas-named

James Spencer White’s wife, Ivy Zilpha Thomas, had a brother named Fred William Thomas so I’m presuming he is the Fred Thomas in these two photos found in Spen’s album.

Fred was born in Blenheim on the 12 Jun 1894, the son of David Thomas and Esther Elizabeth neé Chuck. Fred joined the NZ Expeditionary Forces in WWI and on the 23 Sep 1916 he embarked for England on the vessel ‘Pakeha’. Sadly he was killed in action at Messines in Belgium on the 24 Mar 1917, he is either buried or his name is on the monument at the St Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery, Heuvelland, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

I found the following photos & memorial card on the Auckland War Memorial Museum website, he certainly looks to be the same person.

fred-thomas3memorial-card

References: AWMM Online Cenotaph

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Dawn Scotting
pandora[at]kc.net.nz

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