Thomas Allan O'Dea

Thomas Allan O'Dea

Personal Information
Date of Birth	C1895
Place of Birth	South Melbourne, Victoria
Death	31 Mar 1952
Place of Death	Sydney, New South Wales
Age at Enlistment	20 years, 9 months
Description	5'7½" (1.m) tall ; 145lbs 65.771 kg ; fair complexion ; blue-green eyes ; brown hair
Occupation	Grocer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Address	Gosnells, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Mary O'Shea
Military Information
Reg Number	16796
Date of Enlistment	9 May 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	AAMC - 5th Military District Reinforcements
Date of Embarkation	29 Jan 1917 ‒ 27 Mar 1917
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A28 Miltiades Fremantle to Devonport
Date of Return	12 Mar 1918 ‒ 23 Apr 1918
Ship Returned On	SS Kenilworth Castle England to Durban
Date of Return	28 Apr 1918 ‒ 13 May 1918
Ship Returned On	SS Field Marshall
Fate	Wounded in action 22 Nov 1917 Returned to Australia
Monument	Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll Gosnells Primary School Honour Roll Gosnells Ward Honour Roll
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

Entered camp on 9 May 1916, and was allocated to the Australian Army Medical Corps reinforcements. On arrival in England he was sent to the Medical Corps Base Training Depot at Parkhouse. Six weeks later on 6 Apr 1917 Tom proceeded overseas to France through Folkestone and after a period in the based depot, he joined the 7th Field Ambulance on 21 May 1917. at Bécordel on the outskirts of Albert where it was running the 2nd Division's Rest Station.

On 22 Nov 1917 Tom was wounded in action (gassed) at Steenwerck. Treated by the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station, he was passed to the 64th Casualty Clearing Station on 26 Nov, and admitted to the 18th General Hospital in Camiers on 27 Nov 1917. Released to the 6th Convalescent Depot on 5 Dec 1917, he transferred to the 5th Convalescent Depot on 8 Dec 1917 and then admitted to the 3rd Australian General Hospital in Abbeville on 15 Dec 1917.

Thomas was evacuated to England 23 Dec 1917 aboard HMHS Grantully Castle and admitted on 24 Dec 1917 to the Fovant Military Hospital. On 17 Jan 1918 he was transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Hurdcott. Tom was granted furlough from 23 Jan 1918 until 6 Feb 1918, before reporting to the 2nd Command Depot in Weymouth.

It had been decided to send Tom home to Australia to recover before he would return to full health. Discharged by the 5th Military District on 24 Jun 1918.

Notes

The 7th Field Ambulance served the 7th Brigade which included the following battalions: 25th (Queensland Battalion), 26th (Queensland and Tasmanian Battalion), 27th (South Australian Battalion) and 28th (Western Australian Battalion) Battalions. It is most likely Thomas’s parent Brigade was the 28th Battalion however his Service Records give no indication of being assigned to any specific battalion

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