Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

1087 Private Thomas Micheal CARRUCAN

Thomas Carrucan was born at Clunes in Victoria on 21 September 1893. Thomas was living in Kew, as were his parents, when he joined up on 8 June 1915. As a young boy Thomas would go to the Kew Cemetery and hold the horses of those attending a funeral. Prior to enlisting Thomas stated that worked as a driver.

Thomas (Tom to most) spent nearly two months at a depot before being allocated to a unit. On 18 September he became an original member of D Company in the newly forming 29th
Battalion.  The battalion trained at the now quite well established Broadmeadows Camp, the 8th Brigade was a composite brigade from several different states. Two companies of the 31st Battalion also trained at Broadmeadows.

For their marksmanship training each company would travel to Williamstown, where they would set up camp for a week. The men quickly became familiar with their .303 rifles; D Company
went to Williamstown during the first week in October.

The 29th Battalion sailed for Egypt aboard the Ascanius leaving Melbourne on 10 November 1915. The trip was a typical voyage, the men noting in their diaries that it was quite rough and at that time of the year very cold. The men were kept busy with a mixture of military training and sporting activities, such as boxing.

As part of the newly raised 5th Australian Division they continued there training in Egypt throughout early 1916. The battalion was sent firstly by train to the Aerodrome Camp at Heliopolis, on the outskirts of Cairo. Like all the Australian troops before them, the men of the 29th were allowed liberal periods of leave, taking advantage of that fact to visit all the amazing historical sites that the country held.

On 13 December the battalion moved by train to Ismailia and from there boarded barges which took them along the Suez Canal to Serapeum. The men had been moved to help defend the canal with the threat of a Turkish attack supposedly looming. After settling into the camp at Serapeum, the battalion’s companies were allotted to various posts, A Company moved out to
Deversoir, about four miles to the south: C Company moved a similar distance north to Tussum; B Company moved to Serapeum East; Battalion HQ and the remainder of the battalion moved to Serapeum West.

On 3 January 1916 the isolated companies were relieved by 31st Battalion. On the following day Major Murdoch led D Company and a section of machine gunners and signallers to a remote post at Gebel Habeita, located almost nine miles due east of Serapeum. The garrison at Gebel Habeita  remained there until 27 January when it returned to Serapeum.

On 23 February the battalion was warned out that they were to move to Tel-el-Kebir, a small canal town situated in the desert midway between Ismailia and Cairo. The trip was made by train, in what were smelly conditions as the trains had recently transported horses.

In late March the battalion once again moved to near the Suez Canal. The men continued to train in the desert conditions. On 15 April the battalion marched back to a camp site at Ferry Post.
Training was stepped up a further notch as the battalion prepared for an imminent move to the Western Front.

The 29th Battalion was well and truly ready for action when it moved as part the 5th Division to the Western Front in June 1916. The battalion sailed from Alexandria on 15 June
aboard the troopship Tunisian (shown left), arriving at Marseilles in the south of France on 23 June. After a short settling in period the battalion entered the frontline near the Sugar Loaf Salient in the Fleurbaix Sector. The battalion was forced to march nineteen miles with each man carrying 70 lb to reach the front.\

Like all of the 5th Division’s battalions the 29th Battalion received its baptism of fire during the Battle of Fromelles (the Fleurbaix Sector). The fighting on 19-20 July 1916 cost the 5th Division
heavily, the 29th were held primarily in reserve, but still suffered 200 men killed or wounded. Thomas came through Fromelles unscathed.

At this time Thomas’ brother Frank was in the Light Horse reserves (militia?) back in Melbourne. Thomas stated in a letter to Frank that ‘it was hell over here’, urging him not to enlist. Luckily for Frank his parents also agreed with Tom and he did not enlist for overseas service.

The 29th Battalion, as part of the 5th Division, remained in the Fleurbaix sector as the other Australian Divisions were sent to the Somme. The 5th Division began to pick up the tempo in midAugust after a lull in activity following the Battle of Fromelles. The battalion began sending out raiding parties to gather information and gain the initiative in their sector.

Private Carrucan was wounded on 24 September 1916; his battalion was still in the line near Fleurbaix at the time. There is no record of the 29th Battalion taking part in a raid so Thomas’
wound was probably as a result of artillery fire.

Thomas’ documents state that he was struck, GSW (the term interchangeably describes 'Gunshot Wound' or 'General Shrapnel Wound' - the effects were very similar) to the chest, but it was
shrapnel not a bullet. Shrapnel balls struck Thomas in the chest and the left side of his back.  Some pieces of shrapnel entering just below his shoulder blade.

Despite the area where he was hit Thomas’ wound was only classified as being mild. After being stabilised Thomas was transferred from Boulogne to England aboard the Hospital Ship St Patrick on 28 September. Thomas was admitted to the Chatham Military Hospital the following day; he remained at Chatham until 16 October, his wounds healing reasonably well. When fit enough Thomas was transferred to No 1 Command Depot at Perham Downs, his wound saw him downgraded to B1A.

While at Perham Downs, Thomas was charged with being Absent Without Leave (AWL) for a twenty-four hour period on 31 October. For the offence Thomas forfeited 2 days pay and received
7 days C C? (Camp confinement?). During his recovery from his wound Thomas spent part of that time working in a Military Post Office.

On 28 April 1917 Thomas was transferred to the Windmill Hill Camp, still at Perham Downs. Now fit enough to rejoin a battalion Thomas was to become part of a new Division (the 6th) that
had begun forming. Private Carrucan was formerly transferred from the 29th Battalion to the 67th  Battalion of the 17th Infantry Brigade. Shortly after his arrival at Windmill Hill he was detached to the Headquarters.

With the abandonment of the attempt to form a new division due to reinforcements being directed to the active Divisions, the 17th Brigade folded and most of
the men returned to their original units. Thomas instead opted to join the Anzac (later Australian) Provost Corps. Thomas Carrucan was taken on strength with the Provost Corps on 29 September 1917.

Thomas was sent to Bhurtpore Barracks at Tidworth for his military police training.

At the completion of his training Thomas remained posted to Tidworth. Military Police from Bhurtpore Barracks also supervised the Australian Depots in the Salisbury area. On 18 March he
was admitted to a Brighton Hospital due to illness (not stated). Thomas rejoined his unit on 20 April, as a provost. Thomas’ rank had now become trooper.

Trooper Carrucan was posted to France on 4 October 1918. After a brief stint at the British Cavalry Depot at Rouen (a staging depot) on 28 October, Thomas was detached for duty
with the Area Commandant (?) at Longpro (?).

On 30 November, 19 days after the declaration of peace, Thomas was detached to the headquarters of the 1st Australian Division. The nominal roll for his unit shows  Thomas rode a Bay Gelding named ‘Bob’, his mount standing 16 hands high. On 10 February 1919, Thomas was promoted to the rank of Extra Regimental 2nd Corporal.

Thomas continued to serve with the Australian Provost Corps throughout early 1919. On 27 May 1919 he was attached for service with the APM at Corps HQ. In July Thomas was granted a period of leave. In mid-August Thomas returned to England, he most probably posted to Provost Headquarters at Warwick Square, London.

Still in London in 1920 Thomas was granted more leave in March 1920. On 19 June 1920 he finally began his return to Australia aboard the Bahia Castillo. Thomas was discharged from the
AIF on 27 September 1920.

Like many soldiers Thomas found it hard to re-adjust to civilian life, upon returning to the family home at Kew he found there was no bed space in the house for him. So Thomas took up a bed in the stables, because of recurring nightmares this also let his family get some sleep.

With no place in the family business Thomas had to look elsewhere for work. At times he and younger brother Leo took on pick and shovel work. Thomas then began working on ships between Australia and New Zealand.

After working on the ships for a while Thomas decided to settle in New Zealand. Here he met a girl named Beryl, the couple married and over the years had 13 children. Thomas worked as a tram driver in New Zealand; he remained there for the rest of his life.

Compiled by Trevor Munro