Edwards, Thomas William

No.2187 – Trooper Thomas William Edwards – 10^th Light Horse Regiment

Thomas William Edwards was born in Lithgow New South Wales in 1892 to Daniel & Mary Edwards. He attended school in NSW and later moved to Western Australia with his family. They took up residence in Cue in the Murchison district of WA and by this time Daniel Edwards had died and Mary had remarried to a Mr. Chesson. Thomas moved to North Fremantle where he worked as an Iron Moulder and lived in Boas Street North Fremantle.

Thomas enlisted into the AIF at the Perth Drill Hall on the 30^th December 1915. He was passed as fit with the medical examiner finding him to be 5 feet 7 inches tall; weight of 149 lbs; chest measurement of 34-36 inches; fresh complexion; grey eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Roman Catholic. Thomas wanted to serve in the Light Horse so after a period in No.41 Depot, on the 29^th February 1916 he was allotted to the 15^th Reinforcements to the 10^th Light Horse Regiment. He trained with them in WA until the end of March 1916. On the 1^st April they boarded the H.M.A.T. “Ulysses” in Fremantle Harbour and made their way to Egypt.

After arriving in Egypt in late April Thomas and his group were taken on strength of the 3^rd Light Horse Training Regiment at Tel-el-Kebir camp. On the 27^th April he was admitted ill to the 2^nd Australian Stationary Hospital though returned to the training regiment two days later. On the 1^st July 1916 Thomas was attached to the headquarters of the Australian Training Depot at Moascar.

Thomas remained on duty with the HQ until the 8^th June 1917 when he returned to the 3^rd Light Horse Training Regiment. On the 9^th June he was transferred to the 10^th Light Horse Regiment and joined them at Shellal. On the 29^th August he was sent to the Rest Camp at Port Said and remained there until the 7^th September. For the remainder of 1917 Thomas would be been involved in operations associated with Beersheba and also the capture of Jerusalem from the Turkish Forces.

On the 2^nd February 1918 Thomas was detached for duty with the Imperial School of Instruction at Zeitoun though returned to the 10^th Light Horse on the 24^th February 1918. He served with the 10^th for the next several months as the campaign took it to the Jordan Valley. On the 27^th September 1918 while in operations near the Jordan River Thomas was killed in action. He was buried at the time south east of the Damascus Road but his grave could not be found after the war and so he is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial in Israel.