Named after his paternal grandfather Thomas Hoodless and father James Hoodless, Thomas James Hoodless served in 127th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery during WWI. Along with 125th and 126th Batteries, they made up the 29th Brigade and were originally attached to the 4th Division Infantry but left them to join the 3rd Division in May 1916.
Frustratingly, I cannot find a record for when Thomas enlisted. He would have just turned 18 when his brother William enlisted on 1st September 1914. It is not outside the realms of possibility that he too answered Lord Kitchener’s call for volunteers to form what was called the New Army. However, if he had joined up with his brother, he would have had more of a say in which unit he served because the “pals” system was in effect. This meant that people from the same family or towns could volunteer together and choose to serve in the same regiment, with other men from the same area.
If he did not volunteer, he would have been conscripted by 2nd March 1916 after the Military Service Act was passed in January that year, deeming that all able bodied men were now called up for service. The course of the war had not gone as smoothly as Britain’s leadership had expected and it was clear Britain could not rely on volunteers alone. Either way, his journey and death are all the more poignant for the fact that he died on 16th November 1918, five days after Germany formally surrendered with his cause of death listed as “died from pneumonia”.
In the weeks before Thomas died the 12th Battery RFA were stationed at Preseau just outside Valenciennes on the French border with Belgium, taking part in the final advance through Picardy, in what was known as the Hundred Days Offensive. The Battle of Valenciennes on 1st-2nd November saw the Allies gain a decisive victory and the German forces in disarray were retreating as fast as they could.
Imperial War Museum
Thomas is buried at Quevy-le-Petit, Hainault, Belgium about 30 km to the west of Valenciennes.
Four fellow soldiers are buried with him. Thomas’s gravestone is inscribed with the same personal message that is engraved on his brother’s memorial stone at Oviliers.
“He giveth his beloved sleep”
The image of these five fallen soldiers buried side by side so far away from their homes and loved ones in the corner of a Belgian cemetery speaks for itself.
Thomas and William are also commemorated closer to home with the following words:
