Thomas Gully

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Australian Imperial Forces

Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 941

Parents: Thomas and Martha Gully

Home address: Katanning, Western Australia

Pre-war occupation: Painter

Date of birth: 1892

Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol

Date of death: 20/07/1916

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles, Nord France and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 24

Further information:

Thomas was born in Kingswood, the son of a bootmaker and the eldest of two brothers. His younger brother died when he was just 12 months old so Thomas was effectively an only child. In 1911 he was living with his parents in Kingswood and working as a cabinet maker for Messrs Alsop of Bristol, but sometime soon afterwards he emigrated to Australia. On his enlistment in the Australian Infantry he was described as 5'8" tall with fair hair and brown eyes.

Thomas's battalion (the 32nd, Australian Infantry) joined the 5th Australian Division as part of the Australian Expeditionary Force and on 19th July 1916 along with the 61st British Division, they undertook what is officially known as the Attack at Fromelles, which was a defeat for the allies. Thomas was killed in action on the night of the offensive, which was broken off the following morning after the Australian 5th Division had lost over 5,500 officers and men. The army chaplain said of Thomas “We feel his loss as that of many officers and men. They fought bravely”. The cemetery contains the graves of 410 Australian soldiers who died in the Attack at Fromelles and whose bodies were found on the battlefield, but not a single body could be identified. Thomas may be amongst these. The Memorial commemorates 1,300 Australian casualties.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
Kingswood Heritage Museum