Private Thomas Edward Dines
- Rank
- Private
- Service number
- 1115
- Unit
- 11 Battalion
- Cause of death
- Died of Wounds
- Place of death
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Date of death
- 5 May 1915
- Age
- 25
- Plaque number
- M522A
- Co-located plaques
- M522 - LCPL Stuart Burgess
- Dedicated by
- Family on 6 December 2025
- More information
Biography presented during plaque dedication:
Thomas Edward Dines was born in 1890 in the village of Boughton Malherbe in the Maidstone district of Kent, England to parents William Dines and Rachel Day.
Very little is known of Thomas’s early years. It is believed that Thomas was married to a Rosamond Jane Butcher, and in 1910 that they had a son together.
Thomas emigrated from London to Fremantle, Western Australia in 1911. He recorded on the ship’s manifest that he was single, with his occupation listed as a mechanic.
There is little information on Thomas’s activities in Western Australia.
In September 1914, he enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), where he trained at Blackboy Hill.
He embarked from Melbourne, Victoria in December 1914, attached to 11 Battalion with the first reinforcements for overseas service.
Disembarking in Egypt, he conducted further training in preparation for the assault on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915.
Thomas, along with 11 Battalion, proceeded to the peninsula as part of 3 Brigade and was one of the first battalions to land on the beaches of Gallipoli in the early hours of 25 April 1915.
The men were met with heavy rifle and machine-gun fire from Turkish positions situated 300 feet above them in the cliffs overlooking the beach.
Over the following two days from the landing, the men dug and repaired their trenches, coming under heavy fire from the Turks. A line of defence was established by the men, who sustained heavy casualties during this time. It is believed that during this action, Thomas received a gunshot wound to his head.
On 29 April, Thomas was evacuated from the beach aboard a hospital ship, arriving in Alexandria on 2 May 1915.
On 5 May while in hospital, Thomas succumbed to the wounds he had received in action at Gallipoli.
Private Thomas Edward Dines, service number 1115 of 11 Battalion, died of his wounds received in action on 5 May 1915 at Alexandria, Egypt. He was 25 years of age.
Thomas is buried in the Alexandria (Chatby) Military and War Cemetery, Egypt.
His plaque is located alongside that of Lance Corporal Stuart Burgess, also of 11 Battalion.