Ernest William Thomas was born in Melbourne, Victoria, was single and a Labourer when he enlisted with the 22nd Battalion, A Company on 5 February 1915 at the age of 24. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A38 Ulysses on 10 May 1915. It appears he was caught up in a 'disturbance created amongst civilians' for which he was awarded forfeiture of 3 days' pay in late October 1916 before being admitted to hospital in December for pneumonia. He would later be admitted for illness throughout 1917 and into 1918, but managed to complete his tour without serious injury or incident (a record of being accidentally injured on 6 May 1918 was later deleted). He returned home to Australia 10 April 1919.
Tree No. 388