Military History

Thomas is listed as dying of wounds at the No 15 General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. We don't know for sure when he was wounded but it was most likely on 19 April 1917 during the Second Battle of Gaza. The War Diaries for the Egypt, Palestine & Sinai campaign's are not yet available online and so the following is an extract from the book The Northamptonshire Regiment 1914-18 published by Naval & Military Press [click to purchase].

"On April 17th [1917] the first day of the attack, the battalion was in support of the 5th Bedfordshire and 11th London Regiments, whose advance reached the edge of Sheikh Abbas Ridge, a range of hills some fifty feet high rising out of the plain in the shape of a crescent. On the next day [18th] there was no further movement, but late in the evening orders were issued for the attack to be resumed on the 19th. Accordingly at daybreak, the 4th advanced through the Bedfordshires on a front of 3,500 yards, with three companies forward and one in reserve.

The country towards the Beethsheba Road, which was the first objective, was undulating and covered with barley about 9 inches high, but devoid of trees or cover of any description. Everything favoured the Turks, who were strongly entrenched with many machine guns and good artillery support.

The attack managed to reach the trenches but could not enter them and at 4.30 in the afternoon Captain Church reported that 80 percent of the battalion and of the 11th London Regiment were casualties, and that they were still under heavy fire and that as he had no reserves they could not advance without further support. In this message he ommitted, however, to state that he himself had already been severely wounded twice.

Any further attempt to advance was obviously impossible, and at dusk the survivors withdrew behind a line which had been dug about a thousand yards in the rear by other troops.

The losses in this attack were heavy, amounting to 20 officers out of 21 who took part in the attack, and 366 other ranks killed, wounded and missing. Although unsuccessful, the 4th had done all that was possible under the circumstances; when the position was taken in November [1917] many of the dead were found lying on the Turkish parapet".