Egypt - January 1916

Thomas was stationed at a dry, sandy Egyptian outpost called Serepeum when he saw in 1916.  In early 1916, the ANZACs from the Gallipoli campaign were being evacuated to Egypt to join the Australian Infantry Force (AIF).  To manage the swell in ranks, a major re-organisation of the AIF army occurred.  Thomas and his battalion, which had already been assigned to the Victorian 8th Brigade, became part of a new 5th Division, which fell under the command of General McCay. The reorganisation of the Australian and New Zealand armies blended the seasoned soldiers from the Gallipoli campaign with soldiers like Thomas who had yet to fight in a battle.  As you will soon read, the 5th AIF Division would go to France and fight the Germans on the Western Front in a battle that has become known as the Battle of Fromelles. 

Here is the 8th Brigade Insigma.  Thomas's 29th Battalion was assigned to the 8th Brigade.  The commander of the 8th Brigade was Colonel Tivey (later Brigadier General), a well-liked and caring leader who promoted strong mateship amongst his troops. Colonel Tivey would have personally selected Thomas to the 29th Battalion when he enlisted in July 1915.

On New Years day 1916, Thomas watched on as his section's Corporal Spooner tore off his stripes and threw them at the company commander, Major Murdoch.  Murdoch had earlier admonished Spooner for dropping his rifle.   Thomas and members of no.8 Section would have been dismay by their corporal's actions as Spooner had effectively demoted himself to the rank of private.
 

On Monday 3rd January, Thomas and the 29th Battalion were relieved from their Serepeum duty.  Two days later he marched to the remote dessert post of Gebel Habeta, 9 miles east of Serapeum (see map here). The photo of Thomas and his No. 8 Section was taken at this location. 

According to Austin (1997), several incidents occurred whilst Thomas' was on duty at Gebel Habeta.   Two men from his battalion were caught sleeping on sentry duty and were tried by Court martial.  In a separate incident the popular Sergeant Dixon was tragically struck by a train at Gebel Habeta on 22nd January 1916, killing him instantly. 

On the 27th January 1916, the 29th Battalion at Gebel Habeita was relieved of their duty and returned to Serapeum.  Whilst at Serapeum, Thomas worked along the banks of the Suez Canal and occasionally swam in the canal to escape the heat of the day.  One day in mid February, while Thomas and other members of his battalion were working along the canal, two British ships past and “sneered and jeered at us telling us we were in our right place... not much love lost between us and the tommies".(Letter written by the George Spooner to his family, cited in Austin 1997, p 23)


Austin, R (1997) Black and Gold:  The History of the 29th Battalion, 1915-18. Slouch Hat Publications.