Pte
Archibald Thomas

Informatie over geboorte

Geboortejaar:
1897
Geboorteplaats:
Ashby, Lincolnshire, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Algemene Informatie

Beroep:
Boerenknecht

Informatie legerdienst

Land:
Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk
Strijdmacht:
British Expeditionary Force
Rang:
Private
Service nummer:
15833
Dienstneming plaats:
Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk
Eenheden:
 —  Coldstream Guards, 1st Bn.  (Laatst gekende eenheid)

Informatie over overlijden

Datum van overlijden:
17/09/1917
Plaats van overlijden:
Ney Copse, België
Doodsoorzaak:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Leeftijd:
20

Begraafplaats

Artillery Wood Cemetery
Plot: IX
Rij: C
Graf: 9

Onderscheidingen en medailles 3

1914-15 Star
Medaille
British War Medal
Medaille — 12/01/1920
Victory Medal
Medaille — 12/01/1920

Points of interest 2

#1 Geboorteplaats
#2 Dienstneming plaats

Mijn verhaal

Archibald Thomas was a twenty-year-old Farmhand from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, who fell during the Battle of Passchendaele. The young man enlisted in Scunthorpe in 1915 and served as a Private in the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, part of the 2nd Guards Brigade, of the Guards Division.

After having seen action during the first days of the offensive, the 1st Coldstream Guards moved to the hinterland for rest and training. On 16 September 1917 Archibald’s Battalion moved into the front line. The Guards Division held the line between Japan House and Ney Copse, along the Broenbeek stream.
The 1st Coldstream Guards relieved the 2nd Irish Guards in the left sub-sector, facing Ney Wood and Ney Copse. Along this line a good deal of local fighting took place. Both sides regularly conducted raids on each other’s positions. At night patrols were sent out to try and locate German movements. On the 17th of September a patrol of the 1st Coldstream Guards reconnoitred the Broenbeek valley, without encountering any opposition. Though no Germans were seen on that day the Guard’s front line was heavily shelled during the night.

Private Archibald Thomas was killed in action on 17 September 1917, while holding the line near Ney Copse. The twenty-year-old was possibly mortally wounded due to German shelling. Archibald was buried in Captain’s Farm Cemetery. After the war all the men buried there were reinterred in Artillery Wood Cemetery.

Bestanden 2

Bronnen 6

"Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account", McCarthy C., London, Uniform, 2018, pg. 75.
Gebruikte bronnen
"The Coldstream Guards 1914-1918", Ross-of-Bladensburg J., London, Oxford University Press, 1928, pg. 102-103.
Gebruikte bronnen
Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.com/
Verdere verwijzing
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/101412/thomas,-/
Gebruikte bronnen
The Long, Long Trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Gebruikte bronnen
War Diary Coldstream Guards, 1st Bn.
http://www.nmarchive.com/
Verdere verwijzing