Can you help find Tom?:

Thomas Easton, known as Tom or Tommy, was born on 24 September 1888 in Jesmond, near Newcastle, New South Wales. He was the fifth child of James Easton (1854-1937) and Jane Anne née Bennett (1863-1895) . His parents had married in 1882 at Hartley, then settled in the Hunter Valley in the growing growing coal-mining communities around Stockton and Teralba.

On his mothers side , Jane‘s parents were Thomas and Harriett Bennet Nee Carpenter from Cornwall, Jane born there at St Blazey, the family migrated by 1878 and settled in Lithgow. Tom's father James Easton was born in Slamannan, Stirlingshire in Scotland. It seems James left all his Easton relatives behind in Scotland.

Children of James and Jane:

Tom’s early years were marked by both community and tragedy. He grew up alongside his siblings — Harriet, Nisbet, Isabella, Katie, and John (died infancy) — in a working-class home rooted in the region’s mining life. His father James worked in the local area, and the family lived in Dunbar Street, Stockton, before later residing at 14 St James Road, Adamstown, and then Margaret Street, Teralba, small timber cottages, the lake at one end of the road, mines, quarries and smelters all around. In 1895, mother, Jane Anne, died in April shortly after her youngest child was born, baby John died soon after. Tom was only six years old.

The loss of their mother at such a young age would have been deeply felt by all the children. Somehow their father managed, no doubt supported by the mining community, and the families of near neighbours.By 1913, Nisbet was working as a labourer in Kahiba, and living at Glebe St. By the time of his enlistment, Tom was living in Teralba and working as a miner — a typical occupation for men in the Lake Macquarie district. Though quiet in the records, his story was shaped by strong ties to both family and community, with connections across Stockton, Adamstown, Jesmond, and Teralba..

On 14 September 1915, Tom enlisted in the AIF at Newcastle, New South Wales, aged 26. He was assigned to the 3rd Reinforcement group of the 30th Battalion, part of the newly raised 8th Brigade. Before his departure, Tom and several other Teralba men were honoured with a community farewell at the Teralba School of Arts. The hall was decorated with flags of the Allied nations, and over 300 residents from across Lake Macquarie gathered for the event. The West Wallsend Brass Band led the soldiers through the streets to the venue, where food, music, and speeches set a patriotic tone.

Each recruit was presented with a sheepskin vest, a balaclava, and a New Testament from the Sunday School children:

Thomas embarked from Sydney on 16 February 1916 aboard HMAT A70 Ballarat , bound for Egypt. He joined his unit at Ferry Post on 1 April, after a brief period at the 8th Training Battalion at Zeitoun.

In June, his battalion was shipped to France. On 23 June 1916, Tom disembarked at Marseilles and made his way north towards the Western Front. He had been in France less than a month when the order came to prepare for the battalion’s first battle — a diversionary assault at a place called Fromelles.

Only weeks after arriving in France, the 30th Battalion were rushed into battle at Fromelles on 19–20 July 1916 — their first major engagement on the Western Front. The battalion reached the front lines on 14 July and entered the trenches at Fleurbaix on 16 July, in preparation for an attack. Conditions were poor, and the trenches were already showing signs of waterlogging. A planned assault on the 17th was postponed due to heavy rain. By 4.00 PM on 19 July, the men were back in place and ready for what was to come. The 8th Brigade, including the 30th, were positioned on the left flank of the Australian line.

The 30th were to cross approximately 100 metres of No Man’s Land, breach German lines, and hold the captured ground — all while guarding their exposed left against flanking attacks. It was an unenviable and near-impossible task. The order to advance came at 5.58 PM. C Company, which included Thomas Easton, was in the first wave. As the bombardment lifted, the Australians surged forward, but the Germans were well-prepared and waiting. Among them was 2363 Private John Hodge, from West Wallsend, who would later describe the assault in a powerful letter written from Suffolk General Hospital in England.

His testimony remains the only known eyewitness account of Tom Easton’s final moments:

Tom’s body could not be moved. The shelling was relentless, and the trench was rapidly becoming unmanageable — flooded, unstable, and crowded with both the living and the dead. Hodge recalled the night in vivid detail:

Hodge himself was wounded later while retreating, shot in the face by shrapnel that destroyed his lower teeth and tore his mouth. He survived, but carried the memory of Tom’s death with him:

The story of Tom is not told through official dispatches or formal Red Cross records — but through the voice of a mate who stood beside him. His body was never recovered.

Tom was officially recorded as Killed in Action on 20 July 1916. He has no known grave.

He is commemorated at:

In the years following the war, Tom was remembered each year in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, with touching tributes from family and friends, especially his siblings Nesbit and Kate, his sister Bella (Mrs. A. Parry), and close friends including Mrs. W. Barnett and Mabel. Their notices spoke of love, sorrow, and the aching grief of a grave never found:

Another from 1918 states:

As late as 1930, they were still remembering him:

These enduring tributes are not only reflections of deep personal loss but also powerful echoes of a national wound — one that continues to call us to remember and to seek the identities of the fallen.

In 2016, to mark the centenary of his death, Gary Mitchell erected a memorial cross adorned with poppies at the gravesite of Thomas’s father, James Easton, at Sandgate Cemetery, as a tribute to Thomas’s service and ultimate sacrifice.

His story continues to be told through the Fromelles Association of Australia and local historical societies, ensuring that the miner from Teralba who became a soldier — and gave his life at Fromelles — is never forgotten.

Thomas Easton was killed in action at Fromelles on 20 July 1916. Like so many of his battalion, his body was never recovered, and he has no known grave. In 2008, a mass grave containing the remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers was discovered at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles. Since then, DNA matching has been used to identify many of these soldiers and return their names to them after more than a century. Family members have already come forward to provide DNA to assist with identifying Tom among the missing. Their generosity and commitment are deeply appreciated.