A Liverpool man killed in the final weeks of WWI has been honoured by workers at his former employer.
Thomas Thompson was 24 when he was killed as his unit advanced into Belgium on October 21 1918. He is buried in Esplechin, the town where he died. Thomas was born in Everton in 1894 and lived on Arundel Street, Walton until the war started. Thomas enlisted and joined the Royal Field Artillery.
Thomas served alongside his Toxteth -born friend Alfred Welsby who was given the military service number next to his. Thomas worked at Caryl Street gas works before he enlisted, which at the time was a huge gas production plant close to what is now Brunswick train station.
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His dad Robert was a foreman at the site - and at some point soon after Thomas died - a memorial stone was engraved and added to a wall at the site. Today the site is much smaller and managed by a handful of Cadent gas workers, so the decision was made to move the memorial to the main depot for the area on Banks Road, Garston.
The memorial to Thomas has been combined with another memorial to six workers from the Garston site who died in the war - Samuel Corfe, James Hitchmough, Richard Ireland, Alexander McDonnell, Allan Prophet and John Williams. And a new plaque has been placed to the exterior, public-facing wall of the original location of Thomas’ memorial.
On Friday Cadent workers were joined by Janna Welsby, the great-niece of Thomas, and placed wreaths before observing a two-minute silence. Nick Jerman, head of customer operations at Cadent, said: "We’re very proud to have a history that dates back to the early 1800s here in Liverpool.
“Thousands of Merseyside gas workers served in both of the world wars – and many of them were killed. As a company, we pause every year to remember that. It was lovely to meet Mrs Welsby and share this moment of reflection and remembrance with her at our new memorial site at our Garston depot.”
After the war Alfred married Thomas' older sister Catherine. They had a son, who they called Thomas. Alfred also went on to work at Caryl Street gas works. He died in Liverpool in 1959.
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