Although not on the village war memorial Thomas was described in the newspaper report of his death as a “Bramford man”. Research into his family history has revealed that the Woollard family ran the Bramford Cock from the 1870’s to the 1890’s so they would have still been remembered in the village by many. Thomas had enlisted in the army in the 1890’s and had served in the South African War. He had married in 1900 and settled in Cranham, Essex with his family where he worked on the railways. As a time served veteran Thomas volunteered early in 1915 and was made a Sergeant before crossing to France in September that year.
On the 1st July the 10th Essex was in reserve for the 53rd Brigade but according to the War Diary two of their platoons were attached to the 6th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment who were to take part in the initial assault. According to newspaper reports Thomas was wounded on the 1st July while waiting to go “over the top” with his platoon and it’s likely that Thomas was in one of those attached to the 6th Royal Berkshires.
Just before the main attack, at 7.27 am, two mines were exploded in this area under the German front line. The larger one of 5000 pounds of explosive was at Casino (or Kasino) Point just in front of the trenches occupied by the waiting troops. The War Diary entry for 7.27 am states that:
“The mine which was put up at KASINO POINT at this time inflicted a large number of casualties on the two platoons attached to the 6th R Berks.”
This was probably the incident that caused Thomas’s wounds and as a result he was transported to the No 1 Stationary Hospital in Rouen where he died on 10th July 1916. He is buried in the St Sever Cemetery, Rouen and commemorated on the Ipswich War Memorial.
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