Virtual
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Australia

From the book Fallen Saints  - Lloyd Menken Vaughan Thomas of Vancouver, British Columbia was born in Adelaide in 1894.

Lloyd attended the School 1905-1907 and after leaving school took up farming; his only military experience prior to the war was the two and a half years served in the Naval Cadets. 

On 13 May 1915, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and by 1916 was a Lance Sergeant in the 4th Battalion, 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade.

Canada raised four divisions during the Great War, each with three infantry brigades consisting of four battalions.

On reaching England the Canadians were initially stationed on the Salisbury Plain where almost 18,000 men lived and trained throughout four of the most dismal months the English winter could offer; they embarked to join the British as part of their 1st and later 2nd Armies on the Western Front in February 1915. The Canadian Corps which was recognised by Sir Douglas Haig as one of the finest and most reliable on the Western Front, moved from the Ypres Salient to the Somme at the beginning of September to take part in the Somme Offensive and the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.

The Canadians supported by tanks, advanced under a creeping barrage at dawn on 15 September and by 8 a.m., had captured their main objective and pushed on toward Courcelette.

The 4th Battalion, in pouring rain, took over the right sector trenches from a battalion of the 2nd Canadian Division in front of Courcelette on 18 September.

4th Battalion War Diary - 19 September 1916.

Place Rt. Sector Trenches COURCELETTE - Sept 19th – Bn. In trenches in front of COURCELETTE. Showers during the day. Orders received in the morning to attack the German front line East of COURCELETTE, at 7 p.m. Those orders were cancelled after our preliminary bombardment had started at 2 p.m. At 7.30 the enemy attacked our line in the vicinity of the QUARRY, and succeeded in obtaining a footing in one trench. He succeeded in capturing one LEWIS gun, the whole of the crew which were casualties. B Coy which was in reserve, was immediately ordered to make a counter-attack. On reaching the Quarry the attacking party found that the enemy had evacuated our trench.

The trench was immediately reoccupied by us, and the dispositions reorganized. Remainder of the night heavy artillery fire on both sides. [i]

Lance Sergeant Lloyd Thomas, 4th Battalion, (1st Central Ontario Regiment) 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade was killed in action that day; he was 23 three years of age. [ii]

[i] Library and Archives Canada - War diaries - 4th Canadian Infantry Battalion 1916/09/01-1917/11/30
[ii] Libraries and Archives Canada, Soldiers of the First World War - (1914-1918) Thomas, Lloyd Menken Vaughan, viewed 21 October 2005