Thomas McQuhae

Thomas was born on 6 August 1896 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, to Thomas McQuhae and Isabella Crossan, nee Boothman. At the age of 16, he embarked on the Somerset at Liverpool, arriving in Sydney on 3rd June, 1913. His profession as recorded on the passenger list was ‘apprentice’. 

When Thomas enlisted at Glebe, New South Wales, on 23rd October 1917, he was a single, 21-year-old iron moulder. Although he originally came from Scotland, Thomas had an uncle, Samuel Boothman, living at Corryong in the Upper Murray. His enlistment papers describe a young man, 5 feet 6 inches tall (168 cm), weighing 140 lbs (64 kg), with a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. Thomas gave his religious denomination as Presbyterian.

Upon being accepted into the AIF, Trooper Thomas McQuhae, service number 3724, was initially sent to the camp at the Sydney Showgrounds and then sent to the Recruit Training Squadron at Menangle Park, south west of Sydney. On 5th November 1917, he was placed on strength with the 34th Reinforcements for the 1st Light Horse Regiment. Six days before Christmas Day, 1917, Thomas, along with the other reinforcements, embarked on HMAT A28 Ulysses at Sydney and sailed for service overseas.

On 16th January, 1918, Thomas disembarked at Suez and marched into the Reinforcement Camp situated at Moascar near the Suez Canal. Two months later, after training in desert conditions, Thomas joined the 1st Light Horse as it was moving northward in the push towards Damascus.

During the period from February to May 1918, the 1st Light Horse Regiment, and therefore Thomas, was involved in operations to clear and occupy the west bank of the Jordan River. One of the raids during this time was the attack on the village of Es Salt, 23 kilometres west of Amman. Initially, the village was taken, but increased Turkish resistance eventually forced a withdrawal back to Jordan on 3rd May 1918. 

After Thomas’ baptism of fire in the early part of 1918, he was sent to a training school at El Arish. He would remain for three weeks before rejoining the 1st Light Horse Regiment back at Moascar. One month before the Armistice with Germany, Thomas was admitted to the hospital sick with malaria. He would be transferred to the 36th Stationary Hospital at Gaza and placed on the dangerously ill list. It would be well into January 1919 before Thomas was discharged from the hospital and sent on 14 days' leave in Cairo. This would be his last opportunity to take in the sights and sounds of that city before embarking on HMNZT Ulimaroa and returning to Australia

Thomas was finally discharged from the AIF on 8th June 1919. For his service during the war, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

In 1921, he married Dorothy Mary (Doll) Cornell in Newtown, New South Wales. They had one child during their marriage. Electoral rolls indicate that Thomas and Doll lived in the Brunswick area of Melbourne during their lifetime. He died on 8 December 1970 in Melbourne, Victoria, at the age of 74 and was buried in Fawkner Memorial Park, Fawkner, Victoria.