Thomas' military records reveal that on the 13th October 1915, Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Bennett, commanding officer of the 29th Battalion, assigned him to the 29th Battalion, 'D' Company. In subsequent posts, we will learn more about his assignment to 29th Battalion, 'D' company.
The 29th Battalion's colours were the black/gold insignia shown below. When Thomas received his uniform, which was a baggy khaki battledress, slouch hat, puttees (long strips of cloth wound around his shins) and leather boots, the black/gold unit colors were sewn onto each shoulder.
Thomas' 29th Battalion unit colours
(This ribbon would have also been attached to each of the three war medals he received after the war)
"Mum (Mary Margaret Smith - 5th born and first born female - now aged 78 years) commented when she read this first draft ; "I can see now why Dad never really spoke about the war." Also Mum mentioned that she clearly remembers a woman called Nelly Walker visiting our Nana Beryl at Murupara St, Pt Chev, many years ago (Nelly was from Australia had a daughter Shirley living here in NZ and knew Grandad's family well it seems) and mentioned that Grandad's Mum (our great Grandmother) destroyed all of Grandad's uniform, medals etc when he came back from the war. The same story came from another man (name unknown) who visited from Australia with similar memories.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that is why Grandad was angry but it sounds like his Mum didn't think much of the war either...."