Military History

Thomas is listed as being killed in action on 29 Oct 1914 just 25 days after arriving in France. The Battalion war diary states that there are no entries between 28 Oct and 9th Nov 1914, most likely due to the heavy fighting the 2nd Battalion were engaged in. A passage from the Story of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment by C.L. Kingsford is transcribed below:-

After one days rest the Battalion moved out on October the 26th under the command of Major P J Foster to Zandvoorde where they were joined by the first reinforcement of 190 men. The next day they held the trenches under the heavy fire, being forced in the afternoon to withdraw a part of their line. At night they were relieved and bivouacked near Klein Zillebeke, remaining close to that village on the following day. On October 29, when the battle was at its height, the Royal Warwickshire was ordered to counter-attack; but was held up by machine gun fire and forced to dig in, two companies having a narrow escape from being surrounded.

All next day [30^th] they held their trenches under a heavy bombardment. When on the morning of October 31 many of the trenches where blown in and their occupants buried, the battalion on the left under the strain gave way. The Royal Warwickshire had in consequence to swing back their own left to a fresh line, which they were ordered to hold at all costs. A small party under major foster with five other officers did not receive the necessary orders and remaining in their advanced positions were finally surrounded and taken prisoner. The day's fighting had been long and fluctuating and it was only at evening that the 22nd brigade beat off the enemy and re established the line. After this the Battalion now numbering a little over 100 men remind three days in Brigade Reserve in the woods.