The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6039) Private Thomas Edward Cholerton, 21st Battalion, 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (6039) Private Thomas Edward Cholerton, 21st Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6039 Private Thomas Edward Cholerton, 21st Battalion, AIF
DOW 9 May 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 24 January 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Thomas Edward Cholerton, who died during the First World War.

Thomas Cholerton was born in Sheffield, in Yorkshire, England, in 1880. He had served in the British Royal Navy signallers, but later moved to Australia. When war was declared Thomas was living with his wife, Ella, in Manly, New South Wales. He was working as a sanitary inspector when he enlisted in the AIF in July 1916.

Thomas was assigned to the 7th reinforcements to the 21st Battalion, and left Sydney on HMAT Afric in early November 1916. He arrived in England in January 1917, and after a period of training was sent to France, where he joined his battalion on the Western Front in early April.

Thomas’s first action in France was to be his last. In early May the 21st Battalion, as part of the 2nd Infantry Division, was heavily involved in the fighting at Bullecourt. The battalion had already moved up into the front lines, and in the early hours of the morning of 3 May it launched its attack. The troops pushed forward into no man’s land under heavy artillery fire and reached their first objective, but the Germans launched strong counter-attacks and enemy machine-guns remained active. The men of the 2nd Division held on until they were relieved, but at great
cost. The 21st Battalion alone suffered some 330 casualties during the attack.

Thomas was one of these casualties. He suffered a gunshot wound to his right leg during the fighting, and was sent to England for treatment. He was admitted to hospital at Stratford-upon-Avon, but succumbed to his wounds on 9 May 1917.

Thomas was buried a few days later with military honours in a cemetery at Abbey Lane in Sheffield, England. His coffin was draped in the Union Jack flag and was conveyed to the cemetery on a gun carriage. The Last Post was sounded and, because of his family connection to Sheffield, Thomas’s mother, brother, sister, and aunt, and uncle were present at the funeral. A memorial was erected at his gravesite by the Commonwealth Military Authorities.

Thomas Cholerton’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour to my right, along with the names of more than 60,000 other Australians who died fighting 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 Private Thomas Edward Cholerton, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Attestation Papers, NAA B2455 CHOLERTON TE

21st Battalion War Diary entry for 3 May 1917, AWM4 23/38/21

21st Battalion War Diary entry for 8 May 1917, AWM4 23/38/21

“Casualty form – active service”, NAA B2455 CHOLERTON TE

See “Burial report by the officer representing the Australian Imperial Force”, NAA B2455 CHOLERTON TE