After
enlisting in the Army in 1939 and 1940 respectively the Thomas brothers served
their country in the Middle East and both arrived home to Australia safely,
however both met with accidents and were tragically killed shortly after their
return home.
The
Thomas brothers were raised at ‘St Ives’ dairy farm at Dunmore. Warwick, the
third brother of ten children was keenly interested in farming and land
management. He was also a Sunday School teacher, good at tennis, and loved
swimming, horses and his motor bike. Warwick was engaged to Grace Campbell from
Mascot in 1943 when a terrible accident occurred. It seems Warwick left a train
while it was moving near Goulburn Station, and stunned himself. He crawled onto
the railway line and was hit by an oncoming train. He died instantly.
Noel
Thomas was a Surveyor and was away from home a great deal of the time. He had
been promoted to Lieutenant in 1942 and served with the first Australian
Railway Company. An article
appearing in the Australian Surveyor booklet stated ‘Lieutenant NF Thomas
who died of injuries accidentally received in Northern Territory 17 April 1944
was born at Shellharbour, NSW...In 1940 he enlisted in the AIF and went to the
Middle East where he won his commission in the field. He returned to Australia
early in 1943 and was transferred to railway construction work’.
Noel
Thomas was one of the original members of the railway unit during the
construction of the Beirut to Tripoli line. The tragedy of his death was a
severe blow to the whole unit for there was no one in the unit more popular
than Lieutenant Thomas. He had been driving his platoon in a dust storm in the
Northern Territory at the time and came into a collision with another army
vehicle. Sadly, he too died from his injuries.
‘They
Served Their Country and Then’ by Joyce Bailey (Joyce Whatman)
 |
| Warwick Thomas Joyce Whatman collection. |
 |
| Noel Thomas Joyce Thomas collection. |
