Thomas McGoldrick

Killed in Action on the 31/07/1916 shot through the heart at the Battle of Pozieres (part of the Battles of the Somme)

The 8th (Service) Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 10/05/1915. On the 07/05/1916 they moved to Bethune and transferred to the 44th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. Four days later they amalgamated with the 10th (Service) Battalion to form the 8/10th (Service) Battalion. Thomas arrived at Boulogne with the 10th (Service) Battalion on the 09/07/1915. Thomas was shot through the heart by a sniper during a bombardment as he crawled back into a shell hole after trying to help the wounded on the Battlefield in the early hours of the 31/07/1916. This was during the Battle of Pozieres, 23rd July - 3rd September 1916 : Pozieres was a small, straggling village on the main Albert-Bapaume road. It is situated on high ground that gives the occupier observation southwards along the road towards Ovillers, La Boisselle, Albert and beyond; to the east across to High Wood, Delville Wood and beyond; and westwards to Thiepval. Possession of Pozieres was key to making possible any further advances towards Bapaume, the capture of the Thiepval ridge and the breaking of resistance at High and Delville Woods. The Battle for Pozieres and nearby Mouquet Farm became an epic in its own right, with tenacious German defence keeping determined British-Australian attack at bay for several weeks. This was the first large-scale Australian battle in France and proved to be its costliest in terms of total casualties. This battle was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916 : A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely contested steps that became attritional in nature. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call "materialschlacht" : a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. The 15th September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. Family information kindly given by Terry Markwick, a relation of Thomas'. See Newspaper clippings x 3 for a letter sent to Thomas' wife from his comrade Private A. Titmus and also a poem to his wife found in his book penned the previous day. Thomas was also remembered on the St. Patrick's Church Roll of Honour and St. Augustine's Church Roll of Honour (see photos). See photos for Thomas' Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clippings x 3, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Thiepval Memorial, the Gordon Highlanders Cap Badge and Thomas' Pension Records x 3.