Profile

FITZGERALD, Thomas Aloysius
(Service number 6/1843)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank

Birth

Date 11/06/1891 Place of Birth Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date 6 January 1915 Age 23 yrs 7 mths
Address at Enlistment Timaru
Occupation Labourer (Timaru Harbour Bd)
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin William FITZGERALD (father), 3 Wellington Street, Timaru
Religion Roman Catholic
Medical Information Height 5 feet 11 inches. Complexion fair. Eyes grey. Hair brown.

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 4th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 17 April 1915
Transport Willochra
Embarked From Wellington Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns Gallipoli
Service Medals 1914-15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 6 June 1916 Reason Medically unfit for active service, although partially fit for employment in civil life.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

8 August 1915 wounded in the foot; 12 August 1915 admitted to Hospital Ship, with gun shot wound to left foot and left arm. Disembarked at Alexandria and 17 August admitted No. 2 Australian General Hospital, Ghezirch, Cairo. 23 September transferred to N.Z. General Hospital at Cairo. 25 September 1915 invalided to N.Z. 

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 26 June 1954 Age 60 yrs
Place of Death Christchurch
Cause Sickness
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference General Section, Row 99, Plot 495 
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Son of William (Bill) & Mary Ann (nee MADDEN) FITZGERALD, Timaru. Thomas Aloysius was baptized Catholic on 28 June 1891 at Timaru. Brother Patrick Gregory FITZGERALD killed in action; brothers John Leo (wounded) & William also served WWI. Thomas probably played in the Celtic football team for the President's Trophy in the Seven-a-Side Tournament on 24 May 1907. One of the first to go to the Front. Invalided to New Zealand per Willochra on 21 September 1915, just five months after embarkation. Gave a total of 1 year and 151 days of service (197 days abroad, 320 days at home). Saw service in Egypt and the Balkans.

Sources

Cenotaph Database [21 June 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5537 0040383) [17 April 2014]; TDC Headstone image Timaru Cemetery [06 August 2013]; Timaru Herald, 24 May 1907, 20 August 1915, 1 November 1915 (Papers Past) [03 April 2014; 06 May 2014]; Catholic Diocese of Christchurch - Baptism index V.1.2 (South Canterbury Branch NZSG Computer Resources) [27 April 2014]  

External Links

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