Rupert Jennings THOMAS

Regimental number10/1038
Date of birth22 May 1894
Place of birthAshburton
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationOrchardist
AddressAwamate, Wairoa
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation20.3
Height5' 7.5"
Weight158 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Mary Thomas, Ashburton
Previous military serviceServed in C Company, 2nd Regiment, Territorial Force; serving in 9th Regiment at time of NZEF enlistment.
Enlistment date17 September 1914
Place of enlistmentAwapuni
Rank on embarkationPrivate
Enlistment statusVolunteer
Unit nameNew Zealand Expeditionary Force, Main Body, Wellington Infantry Battalion
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Wellington on board HMNZT 10 Arawa on 16 October 1914
Final rankLance Corporal
Final unitWellington Infantry Regiment
FateKilled in Action 8 August 1915
Age at death from cemetery records20
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsChunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial (Panel No 18), Gallipoli, Turkey
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records		Parents: David and Mary Stewart Thomas, Carter's Terrace, Tinwald, Ashburton
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Wellington, 16 October 1914; disembarked Alexandria, Egypt, 3 December 1914.

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 12 April 1915.

Admitted to No 2 Section, NZ Field Ambulance, 30 April 1915 (influenza); transferred to hospital, Alexandria (date not recorded); discharged (c'cured') to Mustapha Barracks, Alexandria, 4 May 1915.

Embarked Alexandria, 9 May 1915, to rejoin Bn at Gallipoli.

Reported missing, 8 August 1915.

Board of Enquiry, held at Moascar Camp, Ismailia, 16 January 1916, concluded: 'Now believed to be dead.'

War service: 326 days (of which 320 days were abroad)

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsNominal Roll Vol. 1: Wellington Infantry Batln/Main Body
SourcesArchives New Zealand (Wellington), Agency AABK, Series 18805, File 7825328