ARMSTRONG, Thomas George
| Service Number: | 6963 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dunolly, Victoria Australia, 6 January 1878 |
| Home Town: | Southern Cross, Yilgarn, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 13 June 1929, aged 51 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | East Victoria Park Memorial Wall |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 6963, 11th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Dec 1916: | Embarked Private, 6963, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Fremantle | |
| 17 Aug 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 6963, The Battle of Amiens, Severe GSW to face. He was admitted to The Queen's Hospital, Sidcup where they performed plastic surgery on his face using new and revolutionary techniques. He was finally sent home on Christmas Eve 1918 and he disembarked on the 1st Feb 1919. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Kim Denyse
Tom grew up in Dunnolly and then when he was 12yrs old, his family moved to Ballarat while his father worked as a mining engineer and his mother was still giving birth to still more baby Armstrongs. By 1894 he had 14 siblings.
It was about this time that Tom joined the military and served with the citizen 3rd Battalion Infantry Brigade.
Tom was to become a miner and in about 1901 he struck out on his own and moved to Broken Hill, New South Wales. This is where he fell in love and married Jessica 'Jessie' Edith McKenzie in 1901 when he was 23 and they had a son later that year.
His little brother, Joe joined him in Broken Hill in 1903 after having first lived in Robertson, just south of Woolongong.
Thomas then moved his little family to Southern Cross in Western Australia where his daughter was born. Thomas and Jessica had two children during their marriage;
1. John Colin Armstrong 1901–1946 (d. in action WWII)
2. Constance Edna Armstrong Bindley 1905–1974
He took up a Gold mining lease with partners in Southern Cross at about the same time as his daughter was born.
The Gold mine must have played itself out as Thomas, with some previous military experience, signed up for Service in WWI when he was just shy of his 40th birthday. From his military records, we know that he was 5'8" (173cm) tall and weighed only 135lbs (61kgs). He had blue eyes and dark brown hair.
Tom fought in France for 8months before he was hospitalised with chronic bronchitis, then 2 weeks later he was sent back to Le Havre on 3rd April 1918. Less than 4 months later, whilst fighting with the 11th Battalion at Amiens he suffered a severe gunshot wound to the face and was sent back to England for treatment.
He was admitted to The Queen's Hospital, Sidcup where they performed plastic surgery on his face using new and revolutionary techniques. He was finally sent home on Christmas Eve 1918 and he disembarked on the 1st Feb 1919.
Thomas died on June 13, 1929, in a home in Perth, Western Australia, at the age of 51, and was buried there.