Thomas Henry Anderson is commemorated on a plaque inside St. Mary's Church. |
Originally born in Chatham, Thomas Henry Anderson lived in Chatham, Rainham and Upchurch during the period leading up to 1914, working as a butcher’s assistant before joining the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. His first military experience took place in India which formed part of the British Empire and while serving there he was awarded the Delhi Durbar Medal in 1911 to commemorate King George V’s coronation celebrations in India.
After completing his posting in India he returned to England where he was stationed at Portsmouth but with the outbreak of war in July 1914 it wasn’t long before he found himself sailing to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force made up entirely of professional soldiers under the command of General Sir John French. As a member of the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers he disembarked at Le Havre in France before being transported inland by train to Landrecies.
According to the regimental history of the Northumberland Fusiliers, on 21st August Thomas Anderson’s regiment marched towards Mons where the 1st Battalion took a position on the Mons Condé Canal while the French were fighting the Germans at the battle of Charleroi on the right of the British Expeditionary Force. The British aim was to hold a line along the Mons-Condé Canal for 24 hours to prevent the advancing Germans from threatening the French left flank. When the battle began the British inflicted heavy casualties on the German side but with the retreat of the French Fifth Army which exposed the British right flank to numerically superior German forces a retreat was ordered.
The Northumberland Fusiliers Memorial "The Response" |
David Wood. |
Thomas Anderson became the first Upchurch and Rainham serviceman to be killed in the conflict while 33 others from the village suffered the same fate in the Great War of 1914-1918.