Claude Thomas (footballer)

Claude Edison Thomas (15 April 1891 – 5 July 1918) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. He was killed in action during World War I.

Claude Thomas
Personal information
Full name Claude Edison Thomas
Date of birth (1891-04-15)15 April 1891
Place of birth Gisborne, Victoria
Date of death 5 July 1918(1918-07-05) (aged 27)
Place of death Hamel, France
Original team(s) Port Melbourne Railway United
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 70 kg (154 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1914–15 South Melbourne 13 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1915.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

One of the ten children of William Edward Paul Thomas (1851-1918),[1][2][3] and Louisa Thomas (1855-1925), née Williams,[4] Claude Edison Thomas was born at Gisborne, Victoria on 15 April 1891.

Education

He was educated at All Saints' Grammar School, in East St Kilda.[5]

Football

Recruited from prominent junior club Port Melbourne Railway United,[6][7][8] Thomas played on the wing.[9]

He played in thirteen home-and-away games (i.e., no Finals) over two seasons — the first, replacing George Bower, was against Fitzroy, at the Brunswick Street Oval, on 9 May 1914 — coming in and out of the South Melbourne team on multiple occasions during the two seasons. His football career ended when he enlisted in the First AIF.

Military service

Employed as a fireman with the Victorian Railways, he enlisted in the First AIF on 24 August 1915 and departed from Melbourne aboard HMAT Kabinga (A58)[10] on 8 May 1916. Although given the rank of Driver, he reverted to the rank of Private in May 1918 at his own request in order to serve in the same battalion as his older brother.[11][12]

Two of his brothers also served in the First AIF: Rupert Clarence Thomas (1893-1918),[13] and Vere Stanley Thomas (1895-1975).[14][15] Serving in the same unit as Claude, Rupert Clarence Thomas was killed in action, in France. on 8 August 1918, five weeks after Claude's death.[16]

Death

On 5 July 1918,[17] Thomas was lying in a trench near Vaire Wood, during the Battle of Hamel when a piece of shrapnel from a German shell glanced off the parapet and struck his ammunition pouch, "the contents of which exploded and blew a hole right through him, killing him instantly".[18]

He was eventually buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery.[19]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Ex-Bank Clerk's Narrative: Ex-Bendigonions: Insolvency Examination, The Bendigo Independent, (Tuesday, 23 March 1909), p.1.
  2. Claude Edison Thomas wss killed in action on 5 July 1918; Rupert Clarence Thomas was killed in action on 8 August 1918; William Edward Paul Thomas died on 14 September 1918.
  3. Deaths: Thomas, The Argus, (Monday, 30 September 1918), p.1.
  4. Marriages: Thomas—Williams—(Silver Wedding), The Australasian, (Saturday, 6 February 1904), p.55.
  5. The school operated on the corner of Dandenong Road and Chapel Street from 1871 to 1937 (see All Saints' Grammar School: All Saints’ Anglican Church, The Spirit of St Kilda.)
  6. Football, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 18 April 1914), p.3.
  7. Football: League Practice Games: Trying-Out Recruits: South Melbourne, The Argus, (Monday, 20 April 1914), p.7.
  8. The League Clubs, The Argus, (Friday, 24 April 1914), p.11.
  9. "FOOTBALL". The Argus (21, 149). Victoria, Australia. 8 May 1914. p. 8.
  10. Hired Military Australian Transport Ships: A55 - A74: A58 Kabinga, at flotillaaustralia.com.
  11. Service Record.
  12. Cullen, Barbara (2015). Harder than football : league players at war. Richmond, Victoria: Slattery Media Group. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-992379-14-8.
  13. First World War Service Record: Private Rupert Clarence Thomas (2433), National Archives of Australia.
  14. First World War Nominal Roll: Private Vere Stanley Thomas (3634), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  15. First World War Service Record: Private Vere Stanley Thomas (3634), National Archives of Australia.
  16. Roll of Honour: Private Rupert Clarence Thomas (2433), Australian War Memorial.
  17. Deaths: Thomas, The Argus, (Tuesday, 23 July 1918), p.1.
  19. First World War Nominal Roll: Private Claude Edison Thomas (12626), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

References
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