Buckingham, Thomas

No.244 – Trooper Thomas Buckingham –

 10^th Light Horse Regiment

Thomas Buckingham was born in Liverpool NSW in 1896 to Thomas and Margaret Buckingham though the family soon moved across to Western Australia and took up residence in Fremantle. Thomas was educated at Jandakot Primary School though after he left school he took up work as a miner and also a station hand. Working as a station hand must have led to a love of horses as when war was declared Thomas immediately offered his services for the Light Horse.

Initially it wasn’t clear if Western Australia would supply a Light Horse Regiment so many men who otherwise might have gone into the Light Horse enlisted into the Infantry or Artillery units. Thomas, only 18 in 1914, waited and firstly it was announced the WA would send a squadron to form part of the 7^th Light Horse Regiment but it was soon realised by authorities that WA would be able to form a complete Regiment so it was announced instead that the 10^th Light Horse Regiment was to be formed in WA.

Thomas enlisted on the 23^rd October 1914 at Claremont Camp and being under 21 years of age had the written consent of his mother (his father having abandoned the family several years previously). The Medical examiner, Captain Haynes of the AAMC conducted the fitness test and found Thomas to be 5 feet 4 inches in height; weight of 136 lbs; chest measurement of 34-37 inches; fresh complexion; dark grey eyes and light brown hair.

The Officer commanding the 10^th Light Horse, Lt-Colonel Noel Brazier, signed his consent for Thomas’s enlistment on the 21^st December 1914 and he was assigned as a Trooper to B Squadron with the regimental number 244. The 10^th Light Horse trained for several months in WA at Claremont, Fremantle and Rockingham.

On the 8^th February 1915 B Squadron of the 10^th Light Horse embarked from Fremantle on the “Mashobra”. The 10^th Light Horse had to embark on two ships at different times from Fremantle so they arrived in Egypt separately. After the 10^th arrived in Egypt the men would have noticed that the infantry soon began to depart, firstly the Third Brigade, and then the 1^st & 2^nd Brigades, followed by the 4^th Brigade and New Zealanders.

Rumours swept the camps as to where they were going but it wasn’t until late April that news came about the landing at Gallipoli. At first the Light Horse were not going to be called to assist as the terrain at Gallipoli was not conducive for the horses. However with the infantry having sustained large casualties and a stalemate developing it was decided to send the Light Horse to Gallipoli dismounted.

The 10^th left Egypt on the 16^th May & arrived at Gallipoli on the 19^th/20^th May 1915 just in time to see the results of the Turkish attack. The 3^rd Light Horse Brigade would be sent to the most dangerous position at Anzac, at Quinn’s Post, the Nek, Russell’s Top and the northern outposts. The 10^th would spend time at all these positions and casualties occurred at a steady stream. Thomas got through the first six weeks unscathed, though on the 2^nd July he was sent to Mudros as he was diagnosed as having Measles. He soon recovered and returned to the 10^th on the 15^th July 1915.

As part of the large August Offensive, the 8^th & 10^th Light Horse Regiments were given the task of attacking the Turkish positions at the Nek. This was to support the New Zealanders who were supposed to be attacking Chunuk Bair at the same time. However this did not occur and the Light Horse were cut down by machine gun fire. The two lines of the 8^th were wiped out and the 10^th followed to the same result. Thomas was badly wounded in the left thigh and despite the veritable hail of Turkish bullets managed to crawl back into the Australian trench. The stretcher bearers were overwhelmed with casualties but Thomas was soon taken to the Dressing Station and marked for evacuation to Egypt.

Thomas was eventually loaded upon the Hospital Ship “Delta” and despite the medical attention given to him, on the 10^th August as the ship was between Mudros and Alexandria, Thomas died of his wounds. He was buried at sea and as he has no grave Thomas is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial.