Their bodies are buried in peace; but their names liveth for evermore.
Their Duty Done
A tribute to the men and women of the East Gippsland Region who Died
as a result of their participation in World War One : 1914 - 1919
1552 Private John Thomas (Tom) Hancher - Ensay and Omeo
Killed in Action between 8 and 12 May 1915
….. a diary and six silk handkerchiefs
Jack (or Tom), the only son of William and Stella Hancher, was born at
Brunswick on Australia Day in 1892. He had one older, and two younger
sisters. By 1905 both his parents had died and thirteen year old Jack
moved to Ensay, possibly supported by extended family, and worked as a
farm labourer. On 5 December 1914, when he was 22 years old, he enlisted
at Bruthen and seventeen days later was on the Themistocles on his way to
war with the 5
th
Battalion.
He survived the initial landing at Gallipoli but was killed in the
advance on Krithia between the 8 and 12 May and buried at Redoubt
Cemetery on Cape Helles at Gallipoli. Three years later, his sisters received
a parcel from the army that included his diary and six silk handkerchiefs.
One of these handkerchiefs is now part of the Australian War Memorial
collection. He was never forgotten by his sisters who in later years named
their home “Krithia” after the place where he lost his life and his name
appears on memorials in the Tambo Valley.
The Hancher silk handkerchief at the Australian War Memorial. REL31681
