3471: The story of Arthur Thomas

Arthur Thomas was a soldier before the First World War, serving in India in the Boer War. He left the army a year before WWI so re-joined in 1914 for WWI. During the War, he fought in the Essex Regiment and was stationed in the Somme and because of his experience working with horses, he was tasked with looking after the horses pulling guns in the Somme.

Peculiarly, Thomas was only stationed in the Somme for 3 weeks before. He was then sent back to Worley Camp to deliver mail for around a year and a half. When he was back at home, he and his wife had another 2 children. Thomas passed away in 1922 at Severalls Hospital in Colchester. The reason for Thomas' death was unknown. Several causes are suspected. One being that Thomas contracted malaria whilst serving in South Africa. Another is that Thomas may have contracted syphilis from his time spent abroad. Another potential explanation is that Thomas suffered from PTSD after the War and so he was sent to Severalls Hospital which treated mentally ill patients so he may have passed away as a consequence of this.