Name
Thomas Arthur Keene
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Mechanic Serjeant Major
Army Service Corps
Motor Transport
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Biography
Thomas Keene was born in Peckham, south London on 6th April 1885. He was one of seven children (four sons and three daughters) born to Thomas and Sarah Keene. Thomas (senior) worked as an Engineer Fitter, and in the 1881 Census the family was recorded living in the Walworth, Southwark area. By 1891 they had moved to Bethnal Green, and ten years later in 1901 they had moved to Fulham, and at that time Thomas (junior) worked as an Engineer’s Apprentice.
On 17th May 1903 Thomas travelled to Whitehall and underwent a Medical Examination to join the Army. He attested the next day and joined the 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment. An extensive Service Record, some 50 pages long, outlined in great detail Thomas’ time in the Army. On the 1st August 1903 he transferred to the Army Service Corps (ASC), where he served as a Stoker on a Steam Lorry until he was transferred to the ASC Reserve on 17th May 1906. During his three years in the Army his Service Record revealed that he had a stream of disciplinary occurrences ranging from being absent, to having dirty equipment, and not getting out of bed when ordered to do so. In fourteen separate incidents he was confined to barracks for a total of 77 days. On 27th June 1905 he injured his hand and was admitted to hospital for treatment, and subsequently had to attend a Court of Enquiry into the incident, as it was believed not to have been an accident. Thomas’ Service Record included a hand-written statement explaining that he had injured his hand breaking coal, and this was supported in another handwritten statement by the Steam Lorry Driver, Private Scott. The Court of Inquiry agreed that the injury had been an accident, and Thomas was refunded the pay he had lost whilst being in hospital.
Thomas married Elsie Stockley on 4th June 1911, and somehow found his way to Abbots Langley where he was employed at the Leavesden Asylum as a Fitter. Being a ASC Reservist Thomas was mobilised on 5th August 1914 at Aldershot, and was sent to France on 8th August, arriving at Rouen the next day. The Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour first recorded Thomas in September 1914, serving with the Mechanical Transport Army Service Corps. He was also included in the Leavesden Asylum Roll of Honour which was published in the Hertfordshire Advertiser on 17th October 1914.
Thomas served with the Motor Transport Section of the Service Corps (MTASC) until 17th July 1915 when he returned to England to train the New Army recruits at the ASC Depot at Grove Park. He was appointed Acting Mechanist Sergeant Major (MSM) at Bulford Camp on 20th April 1916, whilst serving with 692 Company MTASC, and on 2nd May 1916, whilst at Avonmouth, he re-engaged to continue to serve for the duration of the War. On 5th May 1916 he embarked for Egypt, en route to India, and whilst at Port Said took command of an escort to bring in 120 escaped prisoners, when no other officer could be found to do this. He continued to India and arrived at Karachi on 5th June 1916, and travelled to Peshawar, where he served until the following year and was promoted to Temporary MSM on 2nd May 1917. Between 15th October 1917 and 5th March 1918 Thomas served at Bombay assisting the Motor Transport Purchasing Officer, before returning to Peshawar, and then was posted to Rawalpindi on 4th May 1918 to assist training Officers for Motor Transport duties. He returned to England, arriving on 15th November 1919, and continued serving with the MTASC until he was demobilised on 31st March 1920.
Thomas Keene survived the War.
Acknowledgments
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org
