Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Thompson Hart

1885-1955

British Army Soldier

1914-191

Thomas Thompson Hart was born on the 5th of January 1885 to Jane Anne Thompson, age 24, and Alfred Gibbs Hart, age 22. He grew up as a child in the country of Sunderland, England.

On the 27th of December 1909, when he was 24 years old, he got married to Florence Kimbley in Sunderland, UK. Thomas worked as a Miner in Horden Colliery, specialising in horse work. He also collected specimens of English Flora while he did his job and sold them to people of great interest. His family also lived in Colliery due to the fact that is was on the out skirts of the mine that Thomas worked in. It was like a little village for the miners and their families. While living in the mining village, Thomas and Florence had two children named Florence Kimbley (1910) and Ethel (1913).

In 1915, Thomas Thompson Hart enlisted for the British Army, SN to give back to his country.  He enlisted as a Farrier. He put down on his Service Records papers that he was a horse keeper so therefore, he worked in the trenches but also took care and looked after the horses as a Farrier. Whatever moved on the surface in the war, they would have a horse and Farrier following behind to keep a look out for incoming soldiers.

During his time in the war, he would send post cards, sometimes with money to keep the family running. His service number for Australia was S212306, and his England regimental number, was R/4/065695. His regiment was the Royal Army Service Corps, as a sergeant. His form title that was given to him when he started his training, was Short Service Attestation, due to him not permanently joining the army.

The ship he sailed on was the P&O Troop ship and it held so many people, including Thomas and his family that some troops had to wait for the next ship. The trip took 6 weeks and the destination was directly to Adelaide.

In 1919, World War One had ended and Thomas continued to live the life of horses and continued to be a Farrier with his wife and children. For the war, he received a few medals for fighting in the war. A few of those medals being the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, given to those who won the war and survived.

In 1923, Thomas’ mother, Jane Anne Thompson died, and only a year later, His father, Alfred Gibbs Hart died. But on June the 10th, 1955, Thomas Thompson Hart sadly passed away while at the age of 70. He died of an infection due to an operation to remove a brain tumour he had since the early 1950s. The cause of his brain tumour is unknown but what we do know is that Thomas was a very brave and loyal soldier, not just for the army, but for his family as well. He and his wife were buried on top of another in the Cheltenham Cemetery in Adelaide.