Thomas Bird

Westen Mail 18 Feb 1917
Personal Information
Date of Birth	26 Apr 1894
Place of Birth	Wilmington, South Australia
Death	27 Feb 1966
Place of Death	West Leederville, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	21 years, 7 months
Description	5' 11" (1.80m) tall; 174 lbs (78.9 Kg); Fresh complexion, brown eyes, brown hair. Top forefinger missing on right hand
Occupation	labourer
Religion	Methodist
Address	Mundijong, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father Mr Joseph Bird
Military Information
Reg Number	3789
Date of Enlistment	22 Nov 1915
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	28th Battalion, 9th Reinforcement transferred to 51st Battalion / 13th Brigade, 4th Division
Date of Embarkation	12 Feb 1916 - 11 Mar 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A28 Miltiades
Date of Return	22 Feb 1917 - 10 Apr 1917
Ship Returned On	HMAT A63 Karoola
Fate	Wounded in Action 15 Aug 1916 Mouquet Farm, Pozierés
Monument	Armadale (Beenup panel) Mundijong
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal King George V Coronation Medal

Pre War

Prior to enlistment he was working as a fettler at the 9 mile camp, Wellington.

War Service

A month after entering Blackboy Hill camp, Thomas was allocated to the 9th reinforcement draft for the 28th Battalion, and he travelled to Egypt with them.

Soon after arrival [2 Apr 1916] he was reassigned to the newly formed 51st Battalion at Serapeum and travelled with them aboard the HMT Ivernia from Alexandria to Marseilles in France, arriving there on 12 Jun 1916.

On the 14th August 1916, Thomas's unit was part of a major attack on the Mouquet Farm. They were tasked with capturing Fabeck Graben, a major trench to the south east of the farm proper. This they succeeded in doing on the night of the 14th, but under sustained German artillery bombardment and repeated attempts to recapture the trench on the 15th the Australians were forced to withdraw across no man's land under heavy fire. It is likely that this is when Thomas received his wounds either from machine gun fire or from a shell. He suffered a severe GSW to his left knee.

Treated at the 1st Canadian General Hospital in Étaples, he was evacuated on 20 Aug 1916 to England from Calais on HMHS Newhaven and admitted to the Bradford War Hospital.

Following treatment he was transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital on 24 Jan 1917 before being invalided home aboard HMAT A63 Karoola from Avonmouth on 22 Feb 1917.

Back in Australia he spent another six months in the Army before being discharged on medical grounds at 4th Military District (South Australia) on 9 Oct 1917.

"wounded at the fight at Mouquet Farm, 15th August 1916. Convalescent in Bradford Hospital, Yorkshire."

224th Casualty List WOUNDED.... T. Bird (Mundijong).......[along with his brother C. Bird (Mundijong) who is only slightly wounded and remains on duty.]

Post War

"Following upon Mr. O'Grady's resignation, applications were called for the position, and seven answers were to hand. The successful applicant, Mr T. Bird was appointed to the position, at the General Meeting on Thursday night last, the 10th of January, 1924. Before the war, Mr. Bird was a sleeper-cutter and champion axeman, and during the war he saw service with the 51st Battalion in Egypt and France, where he was badly wounded at Pozieres. On his return he tried to adapt himself to clerical life, and was one of the successful candidates who passed the Commonwealth Public Service Examination held in Perth on the 26th August, 1920, and numbers among those who still await the fulfilment of the Commonwealth Government's promise to establish these men in employment. Mr Bird has also been an Executive Member for the last three years."

While Thomas did not hold the position for long, he did remain living in West Leederville with his wife Lillian for the rest of his life.

Thomas's name appears on a list of RSL members and others granted a Coronation Medal by the Queen.

Married Lillian Mary Ingram in 1922 (b.1894) and she died 21 Jul 1987 aged 92 in Manning. They had 2 children, one of whom was Stanley Vernon (1926 - 2002) who served in the Australian Navy with service No. F5208.

Notes

The King George V Coronation Meal was established in 1911 and was awarded to Commonwealth citizens who had participated at his coronation or given community service. A total of 15,901 were awarded.