Thomas McGow

Thomas McGow

Ancestry.com
Personal Information
Date of Birth	unknown "unknown" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Birth	Brisbane, Queensland
Death	17 Mar 1967, aged 81
Place of Death	Palmyra, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	30 years, 7 months
Description	5'6½" (1.69m) tall ; 104 lbs 47.174 kg ; fresh complexion ; blue eyes ; dark brown hair ; mole in middle of his back
Occupation	Barman
Religion	Church of England
Address	Ninth avenue, Armadale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Lily McGow
Military Information
Reg Number	764
Date of Enlistment	13 Jan 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	44th battalion, D Company / 11th Brigade, 4th Division
Date of Embarkation	6 Jun 1916 ‒ 21 Jul 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A29 Suevic
Date of Return	6 Jun 1919 ‒ 8 Jul 1919
Ship Returned On	SS Somali
Fate	Wounded in Action 9 Jun 1917 at Messines Wounded in Action 4 Oct 1917 Broodseinde Ridge Returned to Australia
Monument	none currently
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Married Lily Ramsell in 1913. Lily died at Hilton Park, aged 90 in 1981.

Electoral Roll entries: 1906 a kitchen man at the National Hotel in Fremantle; 1910 yardman; 1912 barman at the Terminus hotel; 1916 with Lily at 301 High street, Fremantle, barman

War Service

Soon after entering Blackboy Hill camp Tom was allocated to the newly formed 44th Battalion. He travelled with the battalion to England aboard HMAT A29 Suevic, arriving there on 21 Jul 1916 and participated in their training at Larkhill before they proceeded to France from Southampton on 25 Nov 1916.

At Messines on 9 Jun 1917 he was wounded with shell fragments to his left hand during an enemy bombardment as 'D' Company moved up to reinforce other elements of the battalion who had taken casualties. He was treated by the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station on 10 Jun 1917 and admitted to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Rouen on 11 Jun 1917 for two days before spending a further six weeks in convalescent depots until he rejoined his battalion on 4 Aug 1917.

On 4 Oct 1917 Tom was wounded a second time, again with a shrapnel injury to his left hand. This occurred during the German pre-attack bombardment prior to their German assault at Broodseinde Ridge. It slightly preceded the planned Allied bombardment prior to their attack on German positions. Both forces had men lined up in no man's land waiting to attack. 'D' Company lost 50% of their men during the German bombardment which lasted 3 hours. The battalion's losses overall were 64 dead and 250 wounded. Tom was treated by the 11th Field Ambulance and the 44th Casualty Clearing Station before being admitted to the 16th General Hospital. Tom again spent time in a Convalescent Depot before rejoining the battalion on 3 Nov 1917.

In Feb 1918 he was granted two weeks leave in England, and another leave in mid January 1919. On 28 Jul 1918 Lieutenant C.D.W. Lintott and eight other ranks (including Tom) were detached for duty with the British 47th Division, returning to the Battalion on 5 Aug 1918. Tom remained in France with the 44th Battalion until 7 Apr 1919 when he marched out to No 3 Group Depot in Codford, England where he begin the process of returning to Australia. He travelled home with a large contingent of Western Australians aboard SS Somali, disembarking in Fremantle on 8 Jul 1919 before being discharged by the 5th Military District on 22 Aug 1919.

Wounded....Thomas McGow of Armadale....

Post War

Electoral Roll entries - 1922 Thomas was alone at 7 Hammond street, Balkatta, a barman. 1925 both at 8 McMillan street, Victoria Park , and in 1931 - 1937 at 32 Kent street, Victoria Park. [1936 -37 Norman Thomas also with them]. 1943 both at 14 Clivedon street, Balkatta, and in 1949 -1954, Thomas has no occupation, with them living at 5 Turner street, North Perth. 1958 - 1963 both are living at 31 Money road, Melville.

Son, Norman Thomas (b. 12 Nov 1913 ; d. 2012 aged 98) served during WW2 as a naval officer F2766/13. Daughter Joan M born 1920?

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial