Claude Thomas
South Melbourne
AFL career
13 games0 goals
- Debut
- R3 1914 v FIT9 May 1914
- Most recent
- R14 1915 v FIT24 July 1915
Stats
Bio
Recruited from the Port Melbourne Railway United juniors, Claude Thomas was a Gisborne-born wingman who played a brief but poignant role in South Melbourne's history just prior to the Great War. He struggled to cement a regular spot in the Bloods' lineup, managing 13 senior appearances across the 1914 and 1915 seasons as a fringe midfielder who drifted in and out of the selected side. His football ambitions were ultimately secondary to his duty; a railway fireman by trade, Thomas enlisted in the AIF in 1915, selflessly requesting a demotion from driver to private so he could serve in the same battalion as his brother. Tragically, he never returned to the Lake Oval, as he was killed in action during the Battle of Hamel in France in 1918.
Profile
- Born
- 15 Apr 1891
- Died
- 05 July 1918 (aged 27y 81d)
- Birthplace
- Gisborne, VIC
- Deathplace
- Hamel, France
- Height
- 173 cm
- Weight
- 70 kg
Teams
Bio
1 revisionRecruited from the Port Melbourne Railway United juniors, Claude Thomas was a Gisborne-born wingman who played a brief but poignant role in South Melbourne's history just prior to the Great War. He struggled to cement a regular spot in the Bloods' lineup, managing 13 senior appearances across the 1914 and 1915 seasons as a fringe midfielder who drifted in and out of the selected side. His football ambitions were ultimately secondary to his duty; a railway fireman by trade, Thomas enlisted in the AIF in 1915, selflessly requesting a demotion from driver to private so he could serve in the same battalion as his brother. Tragically, he never returned to the Lake Oval, as he was killed in action during the Battle of Hamel in France in 1918.