10th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment
Thomas Edward Jones was born at Tredworth, Gloucester in 1888. He was the son of Thomas Edward and Maria Jones, who lived at 36 High Street, Gloucester. According to the 1911 Census he had an elder brother, George, a sister called Maria Elizabeth and another brother called William, who could we have been his twin. Thomas (senior) and Maria had five children but only four were surviving at the time of the above census.
Prior to joining the Army, Thomas’ occupation appears to have been as a labourer blacksmith. Unfortunately, no Army service record has survived, so what little is known about his army service is contained in a funeral report published in the Gloucester Journal on 12 June 1915.
This stated that he had joined the Army upon the out break of war and had been posted to the 10th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, where he served in ‘B’ Company. Prior to the war he had been a keen footballer and cricketer with Wagon Works Cricket Club. He contracted pneumonia whilst training and this, plus other complications, was the cause of death. He died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 29 May 1915, aged 27. His funeral service took place at St James’ Church on 5 June before burial, with semi-military honours, in Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a standard CWGC headstone now marks his grave. He is commemorated on the Gloucester War Memorial.
The 10th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment was formed in September 1914 and initially trained on Salisbury Plain, being housed in billets: from March 1915 they were based at Tidworth Camp. The battalion did not go to join the British Expeditionary Force in France until 19 July 1915, therefore Thomas would not have seen any service abroad, which accounts for their being no Medal Index Card in his name.
Researched by Graham Adams 9 November 2018