BORN: Probably 25 Apr 1896, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. [See note]
UNIT: 16th Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
DIED: 08 Oct 1918, killed in action at the battle for Mortho Wood, aged 22.
BURIED: Bois-des-Angles British Cemetery, Crevecoeur-sur-L’Escaut, Nord, France. Grave II.B.4.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS: Causeway, Undy
Early life - a Cardiff boy
Thomas Sidney CHICK was reportedly born 25 Apr 1896 in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. He was the only child of Tom CHICK and Kate Ada (nee McDONALD). [However no birth records have been found to prove this]. His father was a Railway Inspector born in Devon, and his mother came from London. She was the daughter of a tailor’s cutter. They had married in St. Mary’s Church, Cardiff on 19 Oct 1895. His mother had previously married but was widowed.
Thomas attended St. David’s Roman Catholic Infants’ School, Cardiff from 30 Apr 1900 to 08 Mar 1902. The family lived in Frederick Street. However, it appears that Thomas was not a Catholic. His parents married in a Church of England parish church and his military file also says he was C. of E. The school records noted that Thomas left the school in 1902 because he had ‘left town’, but this does not appear to be true.
Sadly, his mother Ada died on 17 Sep 1906 in Cardiff, aged 55. His father then remarried in 1908 in Cardiff to Jane Lavinia BOWES (nee BRADLEY). She was also a widow. Jane was born in Bishop Aukland, Durham, England but had moved to Cardiff with her son Wilfred.
Thomas and WW1
Thomas signed up to join the British Army on 11 Dec 1915 in Cardiff, aged 20. He gave his address as 47 Queen Street, Cardiff. Thomas worked as a Railway Grounds Man for the Taff Vale Railway Company, based at Roath Dock. He was initially appointed to the Army Reserve and was mobilized on 14 Feb 1916. Then he was appointed to the 2nd Garrison Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
The 2nd Garrison Battalion had sailed to Egypt from Devonport on 06 Mar 1916 aboard the transport ship Minnewaska. They disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt ten days later. This battalion stayed in Egypt throughout the war. However, Thomas did not. After serving 126 days in Egypt he was part of the British Expeditionary Force posted to France on 10 July 1916. This was just days after the infamous attack by the Welsh on Mametz Wood on 9th July 1916 when the 16th RWF were cut to ribbons.
Wounded in Action
By 30 Jul 1916 Thomas had been posted to 10th Battalion RFW. He was wounded in action sometime between in April 1917. On 08 Apr 1917 he was admitted to a field hospital with gunshot wounds to his head and arm. The wounds were severe enough to repatriate him to a hospital in England on 15 Apr 1917. Less than 6 weeks later, on 29 May 1917, he re-joined the regiment in France.
However, it seems Thomas may not have been entirely happy about this…
Confined to Barracks!
Several weeks later, Thomas was disciplined for being ‘absent from tattoo’ until reporting himself 5 days later at 4pm 20 Jul 1917. As punishment, he was Confined to Barracks for 10 days and docked 7 days’ pay. However, he then skipped the Defaulters’ Parade on 24th July and the Draft Parade the same day. He was fined a further 4 days’ pay and ‘Detained’ for 96 hours.
Thomas becomes a Signalman
Later that year, Thomas attended the Divisional Signals School from 24 Sep – 24 Nov 1917. Then, a week or so after re-joining his battalion, he was posted to guard duty for 2 weeks, re-joining his battalion again on 05 Jan 1918.
Another hospital stay
A few months later, on 06 April 1918, Thomas was admitted to the 18th General Hospital, Camiers suffering with a sprained ankle. He stayed there for 47 days. Records show that while he was there, on 10 May 1918, he had and an operation on the infected middle finger of his left hand. Thomas returned to duty with 16th Battalion of RWF on 23 May 1918.
A last goodbye
Later that year he returned home for 14 days’ leave between 06 – 20 Sep 1918. Tragically, that was the last time his father saw him. Thomas was killed in action just days after his return to the front on 08 Oct 1918.
Thomas' death & burial
Thomas died at the battle for Mortho Wood, near Cambrai, where the 16th RWF formed the vanguard of the attack. Their objective was to advance through Mortho wood and take the German trench east of Villers-Outreaux. The divisional history records that 8th October was “perhaps… the stiffest fighting of the whole advance”. They suffered 1,290 casualties on that one day. Sadly, Thomas was one of them. A newspaper notice announced his death as ‘killed in action…Signaler Tom Chick, Undy, aged 23”.
His burial
Thomas was buried in the British Cemetery Mortho Wood where a cross marked his name and regiment. He was buried there with 73 other Welshmen and alongside an unkown British Soldier from the South Wales Borderers.
Reburied at Bois-des-Angles
After the Armistice, Thomas’ body was moved to Bois-des-Angles British Cemetery, Crevecoeur-sur-L’Escaut, Nord, France. This is about 1 mile north-east of his grave in Mortho Woods. Bois-des-Angles Cemetery was enlarged under the Concentration of Graves scheme. Men from Mortho Wood and Bel-Aise farm cemteries were moved here.
He is buried at grave II.B.4.
He is probably the T. S. Chick commemorated by the Ancient Order of Oddfellows on a plaque in Oddfellows Hall, Newport Road, Cardiff.
Medals and Pension - Letters and a cloth bag
Thomas’ belongings including some letters and 1 cloth bag were sent to his father, Tom CHICK, on 04 Jun 1919 at Causeway, Undy.
His father was Thomas’ only living blood-relative. Tom (Sr.) also received the sum of £16 19s 9d.
Thomas was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
What happened to his family?
Tom & Jane had moved to Causeway, Undy by the time Thomas died in WW1. Tom died in 1924, and Jane in 1932.
Thomas’ half-brother, Wilfred, had joined the Royal Navy before the outbreak of WW1. He served as a stoker and was demobilized on 12 April 1921. He married Esther THOMAS in Pontypridd, Glamorgan a year later. They moved to Kingswood, Bristol, where they raised their children. Wilfred died in Bristol in 1960, aged 64.
A Genealogy Note
Thomas’ birth details have not been proven from primary sources. No birth or baptism record has been found for Thomas. His date of birth as 25 Apr 1896 comes from his school record. There is conflicting evidence regarding this exact date. On his Army attestation in Feb 1915 Thomas claimed to be 20 yrs 4 months old. This would place his date of birth around Dec 1915. This would also be before his parents’ marriage.
Furthermore, on their marriage certificate Tom (Sr) claimed he was aged 40 and Ada was 42. However, census and death records suggest they were both older than this. Ada may have been closer to 45 or older. This may be a variation in reported dates via different sources that is not unusual. People were not always honest or mistakes were made. However, it does cast some doubt over the Thomas’ birth and whether Tom and Ada were his biological parents.
We do know that he was recorded as their son in the school, census and military records and so that is all he knew. There may be no mystery here and the primary sources may yet be found. However, his biological parents and his date of birth cannot be considered proven to the requirements of the Genealogical Proof Standard.
Links
The Royal Welsh Fusiliers on The Long, Long Trail website.
