Thomas C H Captain 2nd South Staffs Regiment
THOMAS, CHARLES HERBERT, Capt., 2nd Battn. South Staffordshire Regt., only child of Howard Thomas, of 10, Westminster Palace Gardens, S. W., by his wife, Ethel, dau. of the late William Baker, of Sneyd Park, Bristol, and grandson of the late Charles Thomas, of Stoke Bishop, Bristol, J.P., D.L.; b. Charton, Henbury, co. Gloucester, 25 April, 1880; educ. at Clifton; Abbotsholme, and Edinburgh University; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 4th Somerset L.I., 21 April, 1900, from the militia, and promoted Lieut. 16 Dec. 1901, and Capt. 8 Jan. 1909. He served in the South African War, 1899-1901, with the Somerset L.I., receiving the Queen’s medal with clasp, and in Feb. 1901, was transferred to the South Staffordshire Regt. then in India; was on leave, 1904-05; at Depôt, Lichfield, 1906-08, and in South Africa 1908-1911, where, in 1909, he was given the command of the Mounted Infantry Coy. of his Regt. then at Harrismith, and returned to Lichfield in 1911. On the outbreak of the European War he went to France with the Expeditionary Force, 11 Aug. 1914; served through the retreat from Mons and the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne; was severely wounded in action near Ypres, 27 Oct., and died at the Hotel Crystal Hospital, Boulogne, 5 Nov. 1914. He was buried in the English quarter of the cemetery there. Capt. Thomas was mentioned in Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 18 Feb. 1915, for gallant and distinguished conduct in the field, and his Col. wrote: “I had hoped that your gallant and beloved son might have been the recipient of our most coveted decoration on the strength of my recommendation.” He was an expert horseman and a keen polo player. He m. at Winsford, Exmoor, 4 June, 1912, Dorothy Catherine, only dau. of Philip Everard, of Miltons, Dulverton, co. Somerset, and had issue a son, Charles Richard, b. 15 June, 1913.
Source : De Ruvigny’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1