ROBERTS, Thomas Matthew
| Service Number: | 2650 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 June 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 13th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Ballarat East, Victoria, Australia, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Ballarat Pleasant St State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 17 November 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs, Picardie Plot IV, Row N, Grave No. 1 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2650, 7th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2650, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2650, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Melbourne | |
| 6 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 13th Field Company Engineers | |
| 17 Nov 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 2650, 13th Field Company Engineers, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2650 awm_unit: 13th Field Company, Australian Engineers awm_rank: Sapper awm_died_date: 1916-11-17 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Thomas Roberts’ father died in 1891 when he was just 4 years of age. In his will he left everything to his mother. His headstone reads “Though lost to sight, to memory dear.”
His younger brother 10337 Lance Corporal Albert Edward Roberts 10th Field Company Engineers AIF, was killed in action in Belgium, 5 October 1917, age 27.
Another brother, 2652 Pte George Ernest Roberts, also of the 13th Field Company Engineers, was severely wounded by shrapnel in the thighs, chest and right arm in September 1916 and evacuated to England. He was returned to Australia for family reasons by authority of the Defence Department, 6 June 1918.
The Footscray Independent printed an article in late 1916, "Sapper Thomas Matthew Roberts, 29 years of age, was killed in action in France on November 17, 1916, after 16 months active service. He sailed by the Anchises in August 26, 1915, with the 8th Regt., 7th Battalion, and was transferred to the 13th Field Coy Engineers. He was one of the heroes of the evacuation of Anzac, and was in the firing line at the time of his death. "He was well known in Footscray, being aa prominent member of the Footscray Swimming and Rowing Clubs. Before enlisting he worked at the Electric Power House, Newport."
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