Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Thomas Henry George Hullah, known as Tom, was born on 28 September 1898 in the Chathams Islands. He was the youngest child and only son of Henry Milward and Ada Mary (née Hutchinson) Hullah. Tom was educated at the Geraldine District High School. His father was a stock agent at Geraldine. Young Tom and his sisters won prizes at St Mary’s Church Sunday School, Geraldine, in 1909. That same year he took part in the Geraldine Public School concert.

T. G. H. Hullah served on the Government training ship Amokura and in May 1912 he joined the Amokura, being then not fourteen years old. Thomas Henry George Hullah from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, was the last man to join the Australian Naval Force, enlisting on 6 March 1914. He was allocated the last ANF Service Number of 1796. Thomas Hullah served with the Australian Naval Force of the Royal Navy. T. Hullah (Geraldine) was one of seventeen men of H.M.S. Pyramus who arrived at Lyttelton on leave on 3 October 1916. “The men showed traces of the work they had left, a smost of them were white-faced and thin-looking.” The Pyramus heroes quickly disembarked and were reunited with their families. So eager were they to get home that the planned reception in Christchurch was abandoned. The Mayor, however, privately welcomed, congratulated and thanked several of the men. The men were on three months leave, but only three to four weeks could be spent at home, as one month each way had to be allowed for the journey on leaving and rejoining their ship. T. Hullah (Geraldine), H. Hopkins (Temuka) and H. Walker (Timaru) left by the express for the south. In mid October, a large gathering in the Geraldine Drill Hall, paid honour to departing men and welcomed home two men invalided home and able Seaman T. Hullah, on leave. The men were called to the stage and heartily cheered.

Seaman T. Hullah arrived home at Geraldine on 10 February 1919, on furlough. He received a hearty welcome, the first opportunity the locals had had to show their appreciation of a Geraldine representative of the “great British Navy, which had given them such a great measure of protection throughout the war”. The Mayor said that Seaman Hullah had had a “very hot time in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.” He had asked the headmaster of Geraldine School to let the pupils out a little earlier than usual so that they could join in the welcome. Seamna Hullah, who was wearing the 1914-15 Gallipoli Star, thanked them very much for welcoming him home, before joining his family and friends.

In 1922 Mr and Mrs Hullah left Geraldine, for the second time, for Waimate.Tom Hullah also gave service in World War II, with the New Zealand forces. His next-of-kin then was Mrs Lily Hullah. He had married Lily Butcher in 1929.

Tom Hullah died on 11 May 1977, aged 78 years.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [08 September 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of internal Affairs) [08 September 2002]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [08 September 2020]; Temuka Leader, 20 April 1909, 31 August 1909, 25 January 1919, 13 February 1919, Hawera & Normanby Star, 17 May 1912, Lyttelton Times, 4 October 1916, Timaru Herald, 19 October 1916, 11 February 1919 (Papers Past) [08 & 09 September 2020]; Australian Naval Forces (Naval Historical Society of Australia) [08 September 2020]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.