Thomas and the Spanish Flu

Thomas was assigned to the Bhurtpore Barracks at Tidworth, England to undergo military police training. In February 1918 he was assigned to the AIF Detention Barracks, which was located at HM Prison Lewes near the Sussex coast.

On the 18 March 1918 Thomas was admitted to a Brighton Hospital near Lewes. His medical records indicate he was admitted to hospital because of a ‘lung infection’. Remarkably, he spent 34 days in hospital recovering from his illness.

Thomas' admission to hospital remains a mystery. His illness may have been related to the chest wound he suffered from artillery fire September 2016. It is also possible that Thomas developed a chest infection from the first wave of the deadly influenza epidemic (the Spanish Flu). The epidemic was targeting mostly healthy young men, causing them to develop lung infections (pneumonia). Thomas’ military police work would have exposed him to overcrowded barracks, police cells and prisons; environments that increased the risk of contagion.

As the world remained in the grip of war, the 'Spanish Flu' entered a second, more deadly phase in the second half of 1918. During this period, millions of people had become infected with influenza. The allies and the Germanys placed a censorship on reporting mortality and morbidity rates to prevent their enemy from gaining a military advantage. Spain, which was a neutral country during WW1, did not support censorship of data and was transparent with information about its country's mortality rates.  Accordingly, Spain's reporting of mortality rates gave the impression that the influenza pandemic only inflicted Spanish people.

Of course the flu pandemic did not just single out Spanish people. It is estimated that one third of the world’s population became infected by the flu and between 10-20% of infected people died. In Britain 250,000 people alone were killed by influenza. Statistically, the Spanish Flu killed more people than WW1 and is known as the most dangerous epidemic in recorded world history.

If Thomas' admission to hospital in early 1918 was caused by the first wave of the Spanish Flu, he was likely to have developed an immune response to the more serious strain of the flu, which developed during the second half of 1918.  It is remarkable that Thomas survived both the Battle of Fromelles and the Spanish Flu.

Australian Provost Corp

On 29 September 1916, Thomas arrived in England and was admitted to the Chatham Military Hospital for surgery on his wounds. On 3 October 1916 he was transferred to the Dunsdale Hospital at Westerham. His medical records reveal that the wound on his back had not healed and he required ‘formentation’.   Ten days later he was discharged from the Dunsdale Hospital; ironically, the day his father received a telegram that informed him of his son's injuries.

Thomas was assigned to the No 1 Command Depot at Perham Downs.  Between 31 October 1916 and 1 November 1916 Thomas was found to be ‘absent without leave'. His punishment was the forfeiture of two days pay and confinement to camp for seven days.

On 16 December 1916 Thomas was assigned lighter duties during his recovery period, which included working at the Military Post Office at Perham Downs.

On the 28 April 1917 Thomas was transferred to the Windmill Hill Camp, located at Perham Downs.  He had recovered from his wounds and was physically fit to return to the frontline.  He was assigned to the newly formed 6^th Division, which was disbanded a few months later.

After the disbandment of the 6th Division, Thomas applied to join the Australian Provost Corps (Military Police). The selection process was based on strict criteria (see advertisement below).  On 29 September 1917 Thomas was ‘taken on strength’ into the Australian Provost Corps, where he remained until the end of the war.

Sunday 24 September 1916: Another Casualty of War

Thomas remained in the frontline for two months after the battle at Fromelles.  In August 1916 there was a lull in combat activity for several weeks.  Thomas' cousin, William Lynch, wrote an essay on Thomas' WW1 experience in the early 2000s.  William believes that during this relatively quiet period on the Western front Thomas wrote to his younger brother, Frank. William recalled that Thomas wrote, ‘it was hell over here' and urged his younger brother not to enlist.  Frank was under 21 years and required his parents consent to enlist. As fate would have it, his parents refused to provide their written consent and consequently Frank was was prevented from enlisting during the the early stages of the war.

On the 22 September 1916 Thomas marched 2 hours to Armentieres, arriving at 10.40am. On 23 September 1916 Thomas moved into the trenches, which were in very bad condition.  Soldiers were organised to patrol No Man’s Land at night and to undertake dangerous raids on the enemy.

On the 24 September 1916 Thomas became a casualty of war. It is not clear if he was in the trenches or patrolling No Man’s Land when he was injured by shrapnel from an artillery shell. His pay book only records that he was ‘in the field’. Official war records only listed the names of senior officers who were injured in battle. William Lynch did an amazing piece of research and this is his description of what happened when Thomas was wounded.

'From what can be ascertained the shrapnel entered his back below the left shoulder-blade, and pieces of metal went through his body and came out of his chest. This metal was hot. Thomas would have suffered some pain as well as been in a state of shock. A medical report written later in England mentions that he was spitting blood, so we know he was conscious soon after being wounded.’

Thomas’ official records state he became a casualty of war by GSW (gun shot wound). However GSW was a description used in WW1 to refer to injuries from both artillery fire or bullet. According to the chest x-rays (see below), Thomas' medical notes also record that 'shrapnel' from artillery was the cause of Thomas' injury.

On the 28 September 1916 Thomas boarded HS Patrick at Boulogne and taken to England, where he was admitted to the Chatham Military hospital for treatment.

# William Lynch was Thomas’ cousin.  In the early 2000s he wrote an untitled essay on Thomas’ WW1 experience. We are indebited to William for his research on Thomas.