Henry Lamert Thomas, born Henry Lamert Marsden, was the son of Frances Amelia (nee Folk) and Merton Charles Moses Marsden. He was born on 17 October 1897 in Orange, NSW, 250 km from Sydney. His brother Phillip was born in 1900 and his sister Lillias in 1902. By 1902 the family had moved to Newcastle, 170 km north of Sydney. Unfortunately, Henry’s father died in 1905, only 32 years old. Francis did remarry, in 1907, to John T. Thomas. Henry and his brother adopted his stepfather’s surname in 1914, though this was not formally gazetted until 1940. Henry worked as a railway clerk with the New South Wales Government Railway and was living in Toronto, NSW in 1915.

As soon as he was old enough (18), he enlisted on the 20 September 1915 at nearby Newcastle, New South Wales. He was assigned to the 30th Battalion, 4th Reinforcements, B Company and was sent to Liverpool to begin his military training.

He remained in Australia until 11 Mar 1916, when he departed to Egypt from Sydney, New South Wales on board HMAT A67 Orsova and arriving in Suez on 14 April. He was finally joined with the full 30th Battalion on 25 May 1916 at Ferry Post, on the Suez Canal. Most of the soldiers had been in Egypt since the beginning of the year, and the common complaints were of the heat, water supplies and flies. enry was soon headed for the Western Front, leaving on 16 June 1916 on HMAT Hororata and arriving in Marseilles on 23 June. After landing, there was a 60+ hour train ride to Hazebrouck, 30 km from Fleurbaix. They arrived on 29 June and were encamped in Morbecque.

Private F.R. Sharp (2134) wrote home about his observations:

Training now included the use of gas masks and they also would have heard the heavy artillery from the front lines.

On 8 July they were headed to the front lines, first to Estaires, 20 km, and the next day 11 km to Erquinghem, where they were billeted at Jesus Farm. Henry got his first ‘taste’ of being in the front lines at 9.00 PM on 10 July.

A week later, they got orders for an attack, but it was postponed due to the weather. Then, on 19 July, the 29 officers and 927 other ranks of the 30th Battalion were set to go into battle. The 30th Battalion’s role was to provide support for the attacking 31st and 32nd Battalions by digging trenches and providing carrying parties for supplies and ammunition. They would be called in as reserves if needed for the fighting.

The 32nd’s charge over the parapet began at 5.53 PM and the 31st’s at 5.58 PM. There were machine guns emplacements to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land. The initial assaults were successful and by 6.30 PM the Aussies were in control of the German’s 1st line system (Trench B in the diagram below), which was described as:

While their planned role was to be in support, commanders on scene made the decision to use the 30th as much-needed fighting reinforcements. A necessary act, but it had consequences as it interfered with the flow of supplies for the fighting.

By 8.30 PM the Australians’ left flank had come under heavy bombardment with high explosives and shrapnel. Return bombardment support was provided and the 32nd Battalion was told that:

When the 30th was formally called to provide fighting support at 10.10 pm, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of the 30th reported:

Fighting continued through the night. The Australians made a further charge at the main German line beyond Trench B, but they were low on grenades, there was machine gun fire from behind from the emplacement at Delangre Farm and they were so far advanced that they were getting shelled by both sides. At 4.00 AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank, bombing and advancing into Trench A (map). Given the Australian advances that had been made earlier, portions of the rear Trench E had been left almost empty, which then enabled the Germans to be in a position to surround the soldiers. At 5.30 AM the Germans attacked from both flanks in force and with bombing parties. Having only a few grenades left, the only resistance that could be offered was with rifles..

Thomas was captured as a POW at about this time.

By 10.00 AM on the 20th, the Germans had repelled the Australian attack and the 30th Battalion were pulled out of the trenches. The nature of this battle was summed up by Private Jim Cleworth (784) from the 29th:

Initial figures of the impact of the battle on the 30th were 54 killed, 230 wounded and 68 missing. The ultimate total was that 122 soldiers of the 30th Battalion were either killed or died from wounds and of this total 80 were missing/unidentified. To date (2024), 26 of those missing have been later identified and are buried in the Pheasant Wood Cemetery. To get some perspective of the battle, when Charles Bean, Australia’s official war historian, attended the battlefield two and half years later, he observed a large amount of bones, torn uniforms and Australian kit still on the battlefield.

The Army contacted Henry’s family soon after the battle, but all the Army could advise was that Henry was ‘missing’. His mother Francis, hopeful that he would not proven to have been killed, wrote back at the end of August asking:

While there was information available in August (below), with the need to confirm advice of a soldier’s fate and all the confusion from the aftermath of the battle, the Officer in charge of Base Records back home had yet to be advised.

While the ‘formal’ records in his file are a bit confusing about what was being communicated to the family, it is clear that Francis Thomas had gotten the news of Henry being a POW, as she notes this in a letter she wrote to the Army on 6 November 1916. While being a POW is not ideal, at least some of the anxiety of Henry being ‘missing’ was relieved. Also, she had been sending parcels and letters to Henry fortnightly since he had left Australia in March. At least one welcomed parcel had gotten through before he was captured, as noted in what he wrote about his POW experience:

Henry was a POW for 15 months before he escaped. He gave an extensive factual description about his treatment as a POW, in which he states was generally well treated. Excerpts are below and the full version can be found in his Army File.

He was soon moved to the large camp at Dulmen and was there from 24 July until 4 September.

While doing little to help the Germans, he was still a prisoner, and after being in the Duisberg Meidrich camp for seven months, he and Hector Holmes (3555) of the 56th Battalion managed to escape from the camp on 27 October 1917. Henry provided no details, but travelling by night they successfully made their way to their freedom in Holland on 31 October. He was sent to England on 23 November and on 26 November his family were advised of his escape and safe arrival.

While he had only recently escaped, all able soldiers were still needed for the War. He was soon assigned to duties with 14th Training Battalion and then to the Reserve Brigade Australia Artillery in Heytesbury (between Bath and Southampton) in February 1918. At end of July 1918 he was sent to War operations. He notes that he was a Temporary Sergeant in the 5th Battery Australian Field Artillery (though his records state he was in the 2nd). He had also ‘found’ his way back into the area of the Somme and was there until the War ended in November.

With thousands of soldiers needing to be sent back to Australia at the end of the War, returning home was not a quick process. Henry had to wait until mid-May 1919 to board a ship and he did not arrive home until early July. In 1920, Henry was awarded the Military Medal, which was issued to soldiers who were able to escape from the POW camps. The announcements were in both the London and Australian Commonwealth Gazettes.

Once he got home, Henry returned to working as a clerk with the railroads in Toronto, NSW. He married Nellie Webb in 1922. They had two sons and a daughter. They did move around some, presumably with the railroad, as he rose to be a Principal Clerk. In 1925 their second son was born in Picton NSW, southwest of Sydney; when Henry enlisted in WW2 in 1940 they were living in Casino, far north NSW; and in 1943 they were at 15 Lovell Road, Eastwood, an area of Sydney, where they lived for more than 30 years. While seemingly well settled into a non-military life (and having teenage children), Henry answered the Call to War again, enlisting 24 July 1940.

He left Australia at the end of December 1940 to a posting at Kantara, Egypt, on the Suez Canal. He was doing clerical work and was promoted several times, finally to Lance Sergeant. He returned to Australia at the end of March 1942, but was still in active service. In August 1942 he was sent abroad again, this time to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, working in Headquarters. He remained in PNG until May 1945, with some breaks to allow him to be home. He was promoted to Sergeant, then to Warrant Officer and on 15 September 1945 to Lieutenant.

Henry finally left the service of his country in December 1945, two wars and 15 months as a POW, a commendable commitment. He lived to be 91 years old, passing away on 16 November 1988. Nellie died a year later.