George Stanley Thomas – Manchester Regiment, 2nd/8th Battalion, “A” Company
Private George Stanley Thomas – Manchester Regiment, 2nd/8th Battalion, “A” Company
Birth and Family Background
George Stanley Thomas was born in 1878 at Mumbles, the son of David Thomas and Harriet
Hughes, who were married in 1864 at St Mary’s Church, Swansea.David Thomas and Harriet Hughes
marriage certificate
St Mary’s Church, Swansea
1881 Census
At the time
of the 1881 Census, the family were living at Enfield House,
Oystermouth. David Thomas (43) was employed as a mariner, and
his wife Harriet (37) managed the household.
Their
children were Anna M. (14), Richard (12), Ruth (10), Elizabeth
A. (8), Elizabeth H. (7), Arthur J. (6), and George S. (3),
all recorded as attending school.
1891 Census
The 1891
Census records the family residing at Enfield Cottage, Chapel Street,
Oystermouth. David Thomas (53) remained employed as a mariner,
while Harriet (47) managed the home.
Children
still present in the household were Richard (22), a furnace stoker;
Ruth (21), a schoolmistress; Edith H. (17), a dressmaker;
and George Stanley (13), who was still attending school.
1901 Census
By the time
of the 1901 Census, George Stanley Thomas (22) was living as a boarder
at 26 Mulliner Street, Oldham, Lancashire. His occupation was recorded
as builder. Later that year, he married Mary Jane Pownell.
1911 Census
The 1911
Census records the family living at 32 Orchard Grove, West Didsbury,
Lancashire. George Stanley Thomas (32) was employed as a bricklayer,
and his wife Mary Jane (28) managed the household.
Their
children were Rose (7) and George (3).
Military Service
Attestation Papers
George Stanley Thomas’s attestation papers have survived, showing that he enlisted in October
1914 as a Private with the Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South
Lancashire Regiment). He was later transferred to serve with the Manchester
Regiment, 2nd/8th Battalion, “A” Company.
In October
1917, the battalion was engaged in the later stages of the Third Battle
of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele. By this stage of the
campaign, prolonged heavy rain had turned the battlefield into deep mud,
severely restricting movement and making evacuation of the wounded extremely
difficult.
On 10th
October 1917, the 2nd/8th Battalion took part
in operations associated with the Battle of Poelcappelle, an attack
aimed at capturing German-held positions on the Gheluvelt–Langemarck ridge.
Infantry units advanced across open ground under intense artillery and
machine-gun fire while contending with flooded shell holes, collapsed trenches,
and near-impassable terrain.
Companies
such as “A” Company were tasked with advancing, consolidating newly
captured positions, and holding ground under constant enemy shelling.
Casualties were extremely heavy, and in many cases bodies could not be
recovered, resulting in soldiers being recorded as missing, later presumed
dead.
Death and Commemoration
Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects
According
to the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, Private George Stanley
Thomas was presumed dead on 10th October 1917.
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| George Stanley Thomas Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium credit - findagrave |
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