T. Lewis

Thomas Lewis was born at Ditton Priors in 1886. He was the son of John Lewis, a farmer, and his wife Emma. They lived at Ditton Farm (in 1901 at Church Farm - same place?) John Lewis died in 1908.

Thomas continued to farm at Ditton Priors. He married Ann Jones in 1911 and they had two children, John and Francis.

Thomas enlisted early in the War. He served with the 5th Battalion King's Shropshire Light Infantry, going to France with the battalion in May 1915. The battalion was involved in action at Ypres (1915), The Somme (1916) and Arras (1917). It returned to the Ypres salient and took part in the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).

Thomas was killed in action on 22nd August, 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, when the 5th KSLI took part in an advance by 14th Division and ran into heavy machine-gun fire. Twenty men were killed and more than 120 were wounded or missing. Thomas has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. He is also remembered in Ditton Priors Churchyard where the gravestone of his brother, Walter, bears the additional inscription:

ALSO OF TOM LEWIS K.S.L.I./ YOUNGEST SON OF THE ABOVE / WHO WAS KILLED IN THE GREAT WAR/ AUG 24th 1917/ AGED 31/ MEMORY EVER BRINGS US NEAR/ TO ONE WE LOVED AND STILL HOLD DEAR.

Private Thomas Lewis, 10610 KSLI, was awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1915 Star.