Samuel Thomas was born in Pukehinau, New Zealand, on 17th February 1896. There is little concrete information about his early life, but his parents were Isaac and Annie Thomas, and he was one of at least two children to them.

When he finished his schooling, Samuel found work as a teamster, or wagon driver. When was broke out, however, he was called upon to play his part, and he enlisted on 30th May 1916, joining the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. His service record shows that he was 5ft 10ins (1.77m) tall and weighed 147lbs (66.7kg). He had light brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion; a round scar on the front of his left shin was also recorded.

Deemed fit for service, Rifleman Thomas spent the next four months training. On 25th September 1916, his unit departed from Wellington for the two month voyage to Britain. During the journey, he had fallen ill, and, on disembarking in Devonport, Devon, he was admitted to a hospital with influenza.

When he was well enough, Samuel was moved to hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, eventually joining his unit in a camp at Sling on 15th January 1917. His time there was brief, however, and he was admitted back to the Codford hospital just three weeks later. It would not be until July that he was well enough to be sent to France.

From Étaples, Rifleman Thomas was sent to the front line. Within a matter of weeks, he had been wounded by shrapnel, which had caught his right side and his neck. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

Samuel would spend the next three months recuperating, initially in Hornchurch, Essex, then in Codford. During this time, love blossomed and, on 18th November 1917, he married Gertrude Berry, a horse dealer’s daughter from Plaistow, Essex. It is unclear how or when the couple had met: she may have been working at the hospital where he was being treated.

At the end of December 1917, he was back in hospital again, however, suffering from a bout of bronchitis. His condition would worsen, and he passed away on 16th January 1918, from the rupture of an abscess in his throat. He was 21 years of age.

The body of Samuel Thomas was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the hospital in which he had passed.

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