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Thomas, Joseph Matthew William

Lance Corporal Joseph 'Mick' Thomas was a member of the 2/3 Battalion, 16th Brigade. He service number was NX4306. He was captured in Crete, POW No. 3536.

From the AWM website: The 2/3rd left Tobruk on 7 March, ultimately bound, with the rest of the 6th Division, for Greece. Arriving in Greece on 19 March, the 2/3rd was soon deployed north to resist the anticipated German invasion. It occupied positions at Veria on 7 April, but a succession of withdrawals by the Allies in Greece meant that the battalion did not meet the enemy in battle until 18 April - at Tempe (Pinios) Gorge. There, the 2/3rd supported the 2/2nd Battalion and blocked German movement through the gorge, allowing the unhindered withdrawal of Allied forces further south. The 2/3rd itself was forced to withdraw again by nightfall. Its activities in Greece ended with evacuation by sea from Kalamata on 27 April. The bulk of the battalion returned to Palestine, via Egypt, but one group of 141 troops subsequently fought with the 16th Brigade Composite Battalion on Crete, after the transport carrying them away from Greece was sunk.

Joseph was born in North Sydney, NSW on 10 Aug 1915. He died on 28 Jun 1989 aged 73. Service Record at the Australian National Archives


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