Thomas Henry Ormerod

Corporal 9902
11th Bn, Manchester Regiment

Thomas was the son of Henry and Ellen Ormerod, of 164 Manchester Rd, Burnley.

The family can be found on the 1901 Census, living at 174 Manchester Rd, Burnley. Their details are recorded as follows.

By the time of the 1911 Census the family is living at 164 Manchester Road, with Thomas having enlisted in the Army (with the Manchester Regiment) in 1904.

Thomas was killed in action on 26 September 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, having been recalled to the Colours in August 1914, and having served in France and Flanders since 30 August 1914.

The 11th Battalion, Manchester Regiment formed part of 34th Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division, and on 26 September 1916, they were engaged in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge, specifically the capture of Mouquet Farm.

Mouquet Farm, situated on Pozières Ridge, was a central bastion in the German defensive position. The shattered farmhouse was located to the left of the farm road on the crest of the ridge. Its deep cellars and tunnels were connected to a complex network of German trenches in the fields.

The 11th Battalion relieved the Lancashire Fusiliers, who had been involved in the initial attack on the farm, and they were subsequently involved in confused fighting trying to clear the remaining Germans from the area.

Not until 1730 hours did smoke bombs finally clear the cellars of the survivors of the garrison - 55 men and one officer.

Thomas has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 14C).

The Soldiers Died in the Great War Database records that Thomas was born and lived in Burnley, where he also enlisted in the Army.

Thomas obituary in the Burnley Express on 14 October 1916 reported:

"NOW KILLED

Previously Wounded in Brave Action

The death in action is officially report, on September 26, of Acting-Corporal Thomas Ormerod, 9902, of the Manchester Regiment, whose home is at 164, Manchester-road, Burnley, his father being a cripple. Corpl. Ormerod was called up as a reservist at the beginning of the war, and had been wounded three times. He was a single man, and at the time of being called up was a weaver at Catlow's Mill, Trafalgar-street and was connected with St. Matthew's Church. He has another brother serving with the Cheshires, and two of his cousins have been killed in France.

On June 12, 1915, we published Ormerod's portrait. He was then a private, and he had just been at home after being discharged from a military hospital at Perth to which he was admitted suffering from a gunshot wound in the right shoulder, received in Flanders. Pte. Ormerod had then taken part in several important engagements, and came home at Christmas suffering from injuries to his head and one foot through being buried in a trench in which several comrades lost their lives, as the result of the explosion of an enemy shell. The occurred during the battle of the Aisne.

Pte. Ormerod was performing a brave and kindly deed when he sustained the wound. He went out to his trench to bring in a wounded comrade, and had almost completed his mission when a bullet struck the wired edge of his cap, which subsequently, being diverted downwards, penetrated his shoulder, causing an ugly wound."