Francis Thomson (SN 1771) attended the Golden Point State School before becoming a hairdresser. He was 24 years of age and married to Hepzibah when he enlisted on February 2nd 1916. He trained with the 14th Depot Battalion in Ballarat before sailing from Australia aboard the Euripides on April 4th as a reinforcement for the 57th Battalion. On arrival in Egypt he was transferred to the 58th Battalion before travelling on to France. On May 12th 1917 he was wounded in action suffering a gunshot wound to his right shoulder which necessitated his evacuation to the Kitchener Military Hospital in England. He was able to rejoin his unit in France in November 1917 and aside from an accidental eye injury in October 1918 he avoided further wounds. He returned to Australia on the Anchises, disembarked in Melbourne on October 8th 1919 and was discharged three weeks later.

Lucas’s Staffs Appreciation of Brave Men, the original Avenue register, records his name as Francis Thompson.

One of a number of soldiers with multiple entries in the original register, he is also recognised at Tree 1048.