Thal M M V Rfn Rifle Brigade
THAL, MORRIS MARCUS VAN, Rifleman, No. Z2641, B Coy., 25th Brigade, 8th Division, Rifle Brigade, Interpreter to Commanding Officer, only child of Marcus van Thal, of 91, Addison Gardens, Kensington, employee at the War Office, by his wife, Marie, dau. of Meyer Poole; b. Catford, co. Kent, 10 Oct.1897; educ. St. John’s College, Southend-on- Sea, Brussels, and Hanover, and passed the Senior Cambridge Local Exam., with also oral French and German, 1913; enlisted in the Rifle Brigade, 11 Sept. 1914; went to France, March, 1915, and was killed in action at Fromelles, 9 May, 1915. Corpl. Leigh Knight wrote: “I was your son’s section commander, and am very sorry to have to tell you that I myself saw him fall. He was a good soldier, and when we charged he went forward very gallantly. He was killed by a German shell, and it was practically instantaneous death”; and Rifleman E. Allen wrote: “On 9 May we made an attack on Fromelles, where I saw your son carrying a machine-gun into action. I could not say whether he was killed, but I saw him go under, when I was wounded.”
Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1