Claude Thomas (footballer) explained

Claude Thomas
Fullname:Claude Edison Thomas
Birth Date:15 April 1891
Birth Place:Gisborne, Victoria
Death Place:Hamel, France
Originalteam:Port Melbourne Railway United
Height:173 cm
Weight:70 kg
Statsend:1915
Years1:1914–15
Games Goals1:13 (0)

Claude Edison Thomas (15 April 1891 – 5 July 1918) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. He was killed in action during World War I.

Family

One of the ten children of William Edward Paul Thomas (1851-1918),[1] [2] [3] and Louisa Thomas (1855-1925), née Williams,[4] Claude Edison Thomas was born at Gisborne, Victoria on 15 April 1891.

Education

He was educated at All Saints' Grammar School, in East St Kilda.[5]

Football

Recruited from prominent junior club Port Melbourne Railway United,[6] [7] [8] Thomas played on the wing.[9]

He played in thirteen home-and-away games (i.e., no Finals) over two seasons – the first, replacing George Bower, was against Fitzroy, at the Brunswick Street Oval, on 9 May 1914 – coming in and out of the South Melbourne team on multiple occasions during the two seasons. His football career ended when he enlisted in the First AIF.

Military service

Employed as a fireman with the Victorian Railways, he enlisted in the First AIF on 24 August 1915 and departed from Melbourne aboard HMAT Kabinga (A58)[10] on 8 May 1916. Although given the rank of Driver, he reverted to the rank of Private in May 1918 at his own request in order to serve in the same battalion as his older brother.[11] [12]

Two of his brothers also served in the First AIF: Rupert Clarence Thomas (1893-1918),[13] and Vere Stanley Thomas (1895-1975).[14] [15] Serving in the same unit as Claude, Rupert Clarence Thomas was killed in action, in France. on 8 August 1918, five weeks after Claude's death.[16]

Death

On 5 July 1918,[17] Thomas was lying in a trench near Vaire Wood, during the Battle of Hamel when a piece of shrapnel from a German shell glanced off the parapet and struck his ammunition pouch, "the contents of which exploded and blew a hole right through him, killing him instantly".[18]

He was eventually buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery.[19]

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227893922 Ex-Bank Clerk's Narrative: Ex-Bendigonions: Insolvency Examination, The Bendigo Independent, (Tuesday, 23 March 1909), p.1.
  2. Claude Edison Thomas was killed in action on 5 July 1918; Rupert Clarence Thomas was killed in action on 8 August 1918; William Edward Paul Thomas died on 14 September 1918.
  3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1420303 Deaths: Thomas, The Argus, (Monday, 30 September 1918), p.1.
  4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138762729 Marriages: Thomas—Williams—(Silver Wedding), The Australasian, (Saturday, 6 February 1904), p.55.
  5. The school operated on the corner of Dandenong Road and Chapel Street from 1871 to 1937 (see All Saints' Grammar School: All Saints’ Anglican Church, The Spirit of St Kilda.)
  6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74230881 Football, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 18 April 1914), p.3.
  7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article7250508 Football: League Practice Games: Trying-Out Recruits: South Melbourne, The Argus, (Monday, 20 April 1914), p.7.
  8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article7229489 The League Clubs, The Argus, (Friday, 24 April 1914), p.11.
  9. News: FOOTBALL. . The Argus . 21,149 . Victoria, Australia . 8 May 1914 . 8.
  10. https://flotilla-australia.com/hmat3.htm Hired Military Australian Transport Ships: A55 – A74: A58 Kabinga, at flotillaaustralia.com.
  11. Service Record.
  12. Book: Cullen, Barbara . Harder than football : league players at war . 2015 . 66 . 2015 . Richmond, Victoria . Slattery Media Group . 978-0-992379-14-8.
  13. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=3002375&D=D First World War Service Record: Private Rupert Clarence Thomas (2433), National Archives of Australia.
  14. https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1068939/large/6249013.JPG First World War Nominal Roll: Private Vere Stanley Thomas (3634), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  15. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=3002430&D=D First World War Service Record: Private Vere Stanley Thomas (3634), National Archives of Australia.
  16. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1671735 Roll of Honour: Private Rupert Clarence Thomas (2433), Australian War Memorial.
  17. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1405609 Deaths: Thomas, The Argus, (Tuesday, 23 July 1918), p.1.
  19. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/576825/CLAUDE%20EDISON%20THOMAS First World War Nominal Roll: Private Claude Edison Thomas (12626), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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