The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX104103) Private Harold Thomas, 2/10th Battalion, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (NX104103) Private Harold Thomas, 2/10th Battalion, Second World War.

NX104103 Private Harold Thomas, 2/10th Battalion
KIA 22 January 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 10 July 2014

Today we remember Private Harold Thomas, who was killed in New Guinea in January 1944.

Harold and his twin brother, Allan Thomas, were born on 13 July 1923 in Adaminaby, New South Wales. They were two of five children born to Albert and Bertha Thomas. The family moved to Canberra in 1925 and the twins attended Telopea Park Primary School and Telopea Park Intermediate High School. On leaving school Harold Thomas worked as a bus conductor.

In May 1941 Kevin Thomas, the family’s eldest son, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and subsequently served in the Middle East. He died in November 1942 from wounds suffered in an explosion. Following the outbreak of war in the Pacific both Allan and Harold Thomas were called up for the Militia, serving as troopers in the 7th Motor Regiment, a motorised light horse unit. In mid-1942 the twins volunteered for the AIF; soon afterwards, with their regiment being disbanded, the twins were among 120 men who were transferred to Queensland’s 11th Motor Regiment.

The 11th Motor Regiment spent much of 1943 based in Gympie, training and carrying out various exercise. In early July a draft of 10 officers and 360 Other Ranks, including the Thomas twins, were transferred to the veteran 7th Division’s 2/10th Battalion, then at Ravenshoe on the Atherton Tableland.

A South Australian unit, the 2/10th Battalion had served in the siege of Tobruk in the Middle East before moving to Papua in 1942, fighting first at Milne Bay and then in the bloody beachhead battles of Buna and Sanananda. According to the 2/10th Battalion’s unit historian, the infantrymen christened the Queenslanders and New South Welshmen the “Forty Thousand Horsemen”, noting, “They were of good physique, well trained, and jolly fine fellows”.

In August 1943 the 2/10th Battalion returned to Papua, based in Port Moresby. From September, units from the 7th Division became heavily committed in Allied offensives in New Guinea, capturing Lae and moving into the Markham and Ramu valleys. On New Year’s Day 1944 the 2/10th Battalion began moving by air to Dumpu. The battalion took up positions in the narrow razorback ridges of the Ramu Valley.

The 2/10th Battalion spent the first half of January patrolling and becoming acclimatised to the conditions and terrain. During this time, the Australian forces were planning to take and clear the feature known as Shaggy Ridge. As part of this operation, in the afternoon of 22 January the battalion’s B Company unsuccessfully attacked well-prepared Japanese positions.

Harold Thomas was among the dead. He was 20 years old. His best friend, Lance Corporal John “Jack” Woods, was also killed. Private James “Gerald” Doyle, another man from the Canberra region, was killed in the action too.

Harold’s twin, Allan, the family’s remaining son, survived the war. He was discharged in December 1945.

Harold Thomas is buried in Lae War Cemetery in New Guinea. He is one of the six men from the Canberra region remembered on the 2/10th Battalion Memorial Cairn in Eddison Park, Woden. He is also commemorated here, on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 Australians who died during the Second World War.

We now remember Private Harold Thomas and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.