Thomas William Kerry

Thomas William Kerry

Personal Information
Date of Birth	not known "not known" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Birth	Stansted, Essex, England
Death	2 Apr 1917
Place of Death	Noreuil, France
Age at Enlistment	43 years, 9 months
Description	5'9" (1.75m) tall ; 141 lbs 63.956 kg ; dark complexion ; blue eyes ; dark brown hair
Occupation	Groom
Religion	Protestant
Address	Bush Landing, Jarrahdale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Florence Anne Kerry
Military Information
Reg Number	3559
Date of Enlistment	29 Sep 1915
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	28th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement, transferred to 51st Battalion / 13th Brigade / 4th Division
Date of Embarkation	17 Jan 1916 ‒ 9 Feb 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A30 Borda
Fate	Killed in Action 2 Apr 1917, Noreuil
Monument	Jarrahdale War Memorial Jarrahdale Honour Roll Villers-Bretonneux Memorial ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford) Australian War Memorial
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

On 18 May 1911 Thomas Kerry arrived in Fremantle from Liverpool aboard the SS Pakeha, later to serve during WW1 as the HMNZT Pakeha.

Electoral Roll entry 1917 - No.1 Mill, Jarrahdale. Wife resided in Harlow, Essex, England, and following his death, she moved to USA.

War Service

On arrival in Egypt he was sent to the 7th Training Battalion at Zeitoun and on 3 Mar 1916 he was transferred to the newly formed 51st Battalion at Tel-el Kebir.

On 5 Jun 1916 the 51st Battalion boarded HMT Ivernia for Marseilles, arriving there on 12 Jun 1916. On 6 Jan 1917 Tom was hospitalised with Trench Feet (26 Jan - 14 Mar 1917 in the 6th Field Ambulance, possibly being aggravated that day with a march from Buire to Fricourt. He rejoined the 51st Battalion on 15 Mar 1917 when they were again at Buire training before going back into the front lines yet again.

In the early morning of 2 Apr 1917, the 51st Battalion moved into position to attack the German front lines near Noureil. 'C' Company were in reserve occupying the outpost line. They were held in reserve until 2:30pm in the afternoon when they moved forward to consolidate the ground won. However, it would appear from a witness statement that Tom had perished before the attack had commenced.

Initially registered as Missing in Action, a Court of Enquiry in October 1917 declares him to have been KIA on 2 Apr 1917. From 3 Jul 1917 until 25 Oct 1925 his daughter (Joyce Elli) received a pension of 15/- per fortnight. His wife was granted the standard 40/- per fortnight paid to her USA address. It would appear that a daughter from an earlier marriage or relationship living in England (Vera Margaret) also received a pension of 20/- per fortnight from 3 Jul 1917 until 22 Aug 1923.

Red Cross file:.

"Kerry was in C Coy, and came from Perth, WA. I knew him well, as we came over together in the same Reinforcements, the 8th for the 28th. He had been a cook in C Company, but went back to the line. I made enquiries about him from several C Coy men, and heard that Kerry was blown to pieces by a shell, the night before we went over at Bullecourt." McCallum B. Pte 3667

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  Section of 51st Battalion panels
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  Villers Bretonneux Memorial Photo Linton Reynolds 2015

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial