SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s
Name
Thomas John Stevenson
Rank
Private
Service Number
87
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
26th Battalion
Date of Birth
4 November 1873
Place of Birth
Portadown, Northern Ireland
Family Details
Married to Susan Jane Stevenson (nee Cooke)
Children: Lily Esther, William Robert, Victor George, Thomas John and Joseph
Richard Edmond
Age at Enlistment
40
Place of Enlistment
Longreach, Queensland
Date of Death
29 July, 1916
Place of Death
Pozieres, France
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
Courcelette British Cemetery
Plot 4, Row G, Grave 18
PHOTO:
Source: Stevenson Family, Family photo of Private Thomas John Stevenson
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Thomas John Stevenson, or as he has been nicknamed by his grandson, TJS, was born in Portadown County
Armagh, Northern Ireland on 4 November 1873. He attended Portadown State School but did not finish his
education and, at age 13, left school to work alongside his father as a tailor. Though his profession was
honest, like many young men, it could be said that Thomas wanted more adventure and so on 7 May 1894,
aged 20 and at the meagre height of 5ft 5¼ inches, he volunteered for the Regular British Army and
became the newest addition to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment which was considered
a very ‘unfashionable unit’.
Not long after volunteering TJS took part in the Sudan Campaign and was awarded the Queen’s Sudan
Medal and the Khedive’s Sudan Medal with the clasps Abartra and Khartom. In 1900, after the conclusion
of the Sudan War, Thomas was promoted to the rank of Corporal which was a source of great pride for him
and his family.
Two years later on the 1 April, Thomas was again promoted, this time to the rank of Sergeant. Thomas
travelled the world with the British Army. He was posted in Malta and Egypt and in 1904 married Susan
Jane Cooke in St Marks Church, Portadown at home in the UK.
He and his new wife ventured to India to start a life with Thomas serving as Sergeant in the Warwick’s
Mounted Infantry on the North West Frontier, near to the Afghanistan border which was known as ‘bandit
country’. Thomas’s first child, Lily Esther was born in 1905 and his second child, William Robert, in 1907.
Both were born in Quetta, India.
While Thomas was in India, his brother, Robert William, migrated to Australia and founded the Exchange
Hotel in Longreach, Queensland and established a good life for himself there. So, in 1908, after 13½ years’
service, Thomas applied for discharge from the British army and, sponsored by his brother, his family
migrated to Australia.
They arrived on 24 February 1908 in Brisbane. The family made their way to Longreach where they found a
home on Crane Street. From 1908-1915, Thomas fathered 3 more boys, Victor George, Thomas John and
Joseph Richard Edmond.
In 1915, a call was sent out for more Australian men to enlist to form the 2nd Division of the Australian
Imperial Force. Thomas answered this call and on 12 May 1916 aged 40, Thomas John Stevenson enlisted in
the Australian Army where he became a new addition to the 26th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Division and
was sent to Enoggera Army Camp in Brisbane where he was given the regimental number of 87. Only a
little over a week after enlisting Thomas left Brisbane on HMAT Ascanlus and landed at Gallipoli on 12
September 1915. He became stationed at Quinn’s Post which was a very precarious position on the Anzac
lines.
Gallipoli at that time mustn’t have been a very pleasant place especially since Thomas arrived not long
after the August offensive which the army was still recovering from. In November, Thomas spent a short
time on the front lines with the 6th Field Ambulance Unit; however Thomas’s time at Gallipoli was shortlived as he was admitted to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearance Station with a septic ankle wound on 9
December (only 3 days before he was due to be evacuated from the Peninsula).
Thomas left Gallipoli on HMS Oxfordshire on 12 December and was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital
at Heliopolis, Egypt. He was not discharged until February, 1916 and re-joined his battalion in Alexandria,
Egypt on 15 March. Only one week later, the 2nd Division departed for Marseilles, France. In April, Thomas
arrived at the trenches of Armetieres which was considered a quiet area of the front. Thomas participated
in the first raid ever conducted by Australians in France and, as a bonus, the raid was successful.
I’m sure Thomas’s family would like to think that Thomas was perfectly behaved but sadly this was not the
case. Even though Thomas wasn’t born in Australia he certainly displayed very typical Australian behaviour.
Thomas was charged on 2 March 1916 for, ‘Using insubordinate language to a superior officer’ and was
sentenced to 28 days detention. He was then charged with drunkenness on 24 June 1916 and was
sentenced to 40 days detention.
Though we’re not sure what Thomas’s detention entailed we know that he was 14 days short of completing
it. The 1st Division attacked Pozieres on 22 July 1916 suffering great casualties so the 2nd Division took over
on 28 July. The 26th Battalion, including Thomas, formed four waves at 11.10pm and enemy green flares
appeared as early as 11.42pm. At 12.08am, the troops began moving forward and enemy fire opened.
Thomas John Stevenson lost his life not long after to artillery fire.
The attack on Pozieres by the 1st, 2nd and 4th Divisions was unsuccessful and had the biggest loss of
Australian lives in any one battle in the whole Great War.
For his service to Australia, Thomas earned the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Both his Sudan medals were left in the care of his officer during WW1 however, they were never returned
to his family though his wife wrote seven letters attempting to retrieve them. His remaining medals are
currently held by his grandson, Barry Stevenson who this year also visited Gallipoli.
Thomas dedicated most of his life to the service of his country and the Queen, first with the British Army
and then with the Australian Army. His family couldn’t be any prouder of his commitment to his nation.
“Now sweetly lies old Ireland
Emerald green beyond the foam,
Awakening sweet memories,
Calling the heart back home.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Carlyon, L. 2006, The Great War. MacMillan, Sydney,NSW.
Ferguson, Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Report On Attack Carried Out By 26th Battalion, 7th Brigade, AIF On
Night Of 29th July 1916 At Pozieres. 1916.
Finding Our Ancestors, Irish Blessings, https://researchingoconnells.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/irishblessings/ (accessed 15 February 2015)
Fitzsimons, P, 2014, Gallipoli, Random House Australia, Sydney NSW
National Archives of Australia 2015, STEVENSON Thomas John : Service Number – 87
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8089607
(accessed 20 February 2015)
North East Medals 2015, Khedive's Sudan Medal 1896 – 1908
http://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/britishguide/sudan/khedives_sudan_1896_1908.htm
(accessed 7 February 2015)
North East Medals, The Queen's Sudan Medal 1896 - 1898
http://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/britishguide/sudan/queens_sudan_1896_1898.htm
(accessed 7 February 2015)
Stevenson, Barry William. The Military History Of Thomas John Stevenson. Family Archives.