263027 Cpl. Thomas Henry Housham British Army 1st Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers At the age of 17, Thomas Housham enlisted into the regular Army with the Wiltshire Regiment at Devises on 8th of September 1914. He was transferred to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 17th of September 1914, joining the 6th (Service) Battalion at Naas, Southern Ireland. On 11th of July 1915, the Battalion sailed to Mitillini on the island of Levos, Greece off the west coast of Turkey. He was wounded in action and was posted on 23rd of August 1915 to Depot in Cork, Southern Ireland.
On 23ed of March 1916, Thomas was posted to the 1st Battalion, which was placed within the 86th Brigade, 29th Division and deployed to the Picardie, Flanders, and Normandy regions of France. On 28th of August, he was promoted to unpaid Lance Corporal during the battle of the Somme (he always stated this was because of his tea-making excellence). He was promoted to Corporal on 6th of March 1917. Wounded on the Somme, he was sent to 3rd (Reserve) Battalion to convalesce in Cork, Southern Ireland. Afterwards, in July 1917, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion in France and then to the 9th (Service) Battalion, which later become 8/9th Battalion. He also served with the 2nd Battalion.
In April 1918, he was assigned back to the 1st Battalion due to the 2nd Battalion being reduced to cadre. On 5th of October 1918, he was posted to Depot, which by all accounts was in the Grimsby area of England. On 5th of December 1918, he was posted to Command Depot in Tipperary, Southern Ireland. On 10 January 1919, he was sent to the dispersal area in Purfleet, Essex. One month later, on 9th Feb 1919, Thomas was demobbed at the age of 21.
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