Thomas Joyce

 

Regiment: King’s Royal Rifle Corps

Thomas Joyce was born in Birmingham in 1888. His father died when Thomas was a boy and he, along with his brother and sister were sent to live with his Grandparents Joseph and Drusilla. In 1910, he married Lily Powell and moved into the next door house to his grandparents. He was employed as a polisher in a brass factory and a son was born in 1911.

At the start of the war, Thomas volunteered immediately, joining the 10th Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. This was part of Kitchener’s Army and was formed at Winchester on 14th September 1914 as part of the 20th (Light) Division.

Thomas completed his basic training in the Aldershot area and following a unit move to Witley in Surrey, the entire Division moved to the Salisbury Plain area where they had the space to undertake divisional training exercises prior to any deployment overseas. Thomas would have experienced realistic training in the practice trench positions that had been constructed in the area. In the summer of 1915, Thomas was admitted to the Netheravon Military Hospital where, on 3rd July 1915, he died 3 weeks before his Division sailed for France. He is buried in the churchyard in Netheravon.