The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2962) Trooper Thomas Francis Lindsay, 1st Light Horse Regiment, AIF, 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 Greg Kimball, the story for this day was on (2962) Trooper Thomas Francis Lindsay, 1st Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

2962 Trooper Thomas Francis Lindsay, 1st Light Horse Regiment, AIF
KIA 14 July 1918
Story delivered 19 November 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Thomas Francis Lindsay.

Tom Lindsay was born in 1890 to George and Eliza Lindsay. Shortly after he was born his father was appointed Town Clerk of the Central Illawarra Municipality, and remained in that position through the transition to Illawarra Shire and beyond. Tom grew up on the family property “Kilbirnie” at Unanderra and attended the Wollongong District School before going on to work as a bank clerk.

Tom’s father was a keen horseman and a good rifle shot. He taught his sons these skills and so when Tom enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in March 1916, he was accepted for service in the Australian Light Horse. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas in August 1916 with reinforcements to the 1st Light Horse Regiment. Arriving in Egypt in late September, he continued training before joining the regiment in the field in November 1916.

Around the time Trooper Lindsay joined the 1st Light Horse Regiment in the field, the formation had just ended a period of rest, and had rejoined the allied advance across the Sinai. It was involved in the fighting to secure the Turkish outposts of Maghdaba and Rafa, and later served protecting lines of communication through the Sinai desert. Later in 1917 it would fight in the Second Battle of Gaza. Shortly after Gaza fell, Lindsay was relieved and sent for specialist training at the School of Instruction in Zeitoun.

Trooper Lindsay returned to the 1st Light Horse Regiment on New Year’s Eve 1917, and remained with them into 1918. In the first half of the year he was with his regiment as it participated in a number of important raids. By July 1918 they were near Abu Tellul, a prominent hill on the west bank of the Jordan River in Palestine. In the early hours of 14 July the regiment was ordered to stand to arms as the enemy were attacking. Squadrons of the 1st Light Horse Regiment were sent forward, and the German and Turkish attack was fought off.

As the sun rose, a troop of the 1st Light Horse was ordered forward to recapture a trench taken by the enemy. Trooper Tom Lindsay did not survive the operation. Lieutenant Jarrett later wrote to Trooper Lindsay’s parents: “I, with my troop, was detailed to storm the trench, which was successful. Your brave son fell at my side, shot through his heart, death being instantaneous … I cannot speak too highly of his splendid work. He was very popular and above all was always a gentleman.”

Trooper Tom Lindsay was buried near where he fell in a position overlooking the Jordan River. His body was later reinterred in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, where it lies today. He was 27 years old.

In Australia, a family friend published an article in memory of Tom Lindsay that read:
Tom as a boy was straight and true, reliable and capable. As a youth he was a clean sport and a fine athlete. As a man he played a man’s part and gave up a promising commercial career to don the honourable khaki. Many who passed him in the street would turn again to look at such a fine specimen of Australian manhood, and well they might for he was one of the finest … Thomas Francis Lindsay … in the truest sense of the words, was both a soldier and a man. May he rest in peace.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Trooper Thomas Francis Lindsay, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section