2136 Private Thomas William Dent – Orbost Killed in Action 25 July 1916

….. buried somewhere in the vicinity of Pozieres

Thomas Dent, the eldest son of Arthur and Frances Dent was born at Bombala but was working in Orbost when he undertook his medical and enlisted with the 5 th  Battalion on 19 April 1915. Just two months later he was on the Ceramic and sailing for the front. He served six months in Gallipoli and was then in Egypt before being transferred to France. In his letters home he was always cheerful, and spoke of more men being needed at the front. Initially reported missing, Tom’s death was not made official until December 1917 when it was registered that he was buried somewhere in the vicinity of Pozieres. It was another five years before the family received his memorial plaque. His brother Arthur also served and returned home to Australia in 1919. His younger brother Oswald, who had been badly burnt as a child and suffered fits, also applied to serve and was rejected twice. His only sister Emily was so distraught with Tom’s death that her marriage was postponed for several months. A marriage that never took place as she died in a shooting accident only weeks before the set date in 1918. Tom Dent was 25 years old when he died in the fields of Pozieres.