The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6266) Private Thomas Hinde, 9th Battalion, First 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 Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (6266) Private Thomas Hinde, 9th Battalion, First World War.

6266 Private Thomas Hinde, 9th Battalion
DOW 21 September 1918

Story delivered 10 February 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Thomas Hinde.

Thomas Hinde was born in 1892, one of eight children of Michael and Alice Hinde of Gilston in southern Queensland. The Hinde family were among the region’s early settlers, having selected 280 acres of land on the Nerang River, where they were successfully engaged in farming and dairying. After attending the local state school, Thomas worked as a dairy farmer on the family property.

Thomas Hinde enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1916, and after a period of training at Enoggera Military Camp near Brisbane, embarked with a reinforcement group for the 9th Battalion in September 1916. The following months were spent training on the Salisbury Plain near Wiltshire, but instead of sailing for France with the rest of his reinforcement group, Hinde spent weeks in hospital suffering from rheumatism, and did not arrive on the Western Front until June 1917.

Instead of joining the 9th Battalion, he was initially sent to reinforce the 49th Battalion before it moved into Belgium to participate in the fighting near Messines. Hinde’s first major action was fought on the Messines battlefield in the days after Australian, New Zealand and British troops captured the German stronghold. In August, he was transferred to the 9th Battalion, then resting in camp near Hazebrouck. The 9th Battalion later participated in Third Battle of Ypres, attacking at Menin Road on the 20th of September and at Broodseinde on the 4th of October. On the 1st of November, Hinde was evacuated when German artillery plastered the 9th Battalion positions at Broodseinde with gas. He was evacuated to England for a period of hospitalisation and recovery, and did not return to the battalion until April the following year.

By the time Hinde returned to France, the Germans had launched their spring offensive. They had overrun the old 1916 battlefields, and were within striking distance of the city of Amiens. The 9th Battalion formed part of the British defences in the north near the town of Strazeele, where Hinde was affected by laryngitis brought on by a second bout of gas. He was evacuated to a field hospital at La Havre, where he spent the following weeks recovering until he returned to the battalion in June 1918.

Hinde rejoined the battalion in one of the most critical stages of the war. After the failure of the German spring offensive, the allied armies stood poised to launch their own counter-offensive, which they did on 8 August 1918. Hinde participated in the battle of Amiens – which the Germans called the “Black Day” of the German army – and was involved in the fighting that followed it, as the Australian Corps pursued the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line.

Along with the rest of the 3rd Brigade, the 9th Battalion was involved in the fighting for the Hindenburg Outpost line on 18 September. In this, one of the final Australian actions of the First World War, Hinde was severely wounded in the head, and was evacuated through a number of dressing stations and field hospitals until he reached the 55th General Hospital at Boulogne.

Despite the efforts of the medical staff at the hospital, Hinde died from his wounds three days later. Aged 26 at the time of his death, he was buried at the nearby Terlincthun British Cemetery, located on the outskirts of Boulogne, where he rests today. A small epitaph on his headstone reads: “In memory of the dearly loved son of Mr & Mrs M. J. Hinde of Gilson, Qld”.

Thomas Hinde is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

His is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Thomas Hinde, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section