Thomas Henry Secret

A Private with 7th Bn. Thomas died on 29th of August 1915 at the age of 25. 

Thomas was born at Kirkley in 1890, a son of George and Sarah Ann Secret. His mother died soon after Thomas was born.  

The 1891 Census shows Thomas with his uncle and aunt, William and Ellen Secret, at 29 Lorne Road. By 1901 he had become William and Ellen's adopted son and they lived at 43 Windsor Road. However, by 1911, he was living with his biological father and his step-mother, Charlotte, at 82 Saint Leonard's Road and working as a house painter. Later his father lived at 9 Payne Street, Lowestoft.

Thomas enlisted in the Army at Lowestoft in early September 1914. He was on one of a number of Lowestoft men who had volunteered to join the Army and who enlisted into 7th Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). The 7th Battalion was part of the 18th (Eastern) Division and was based in the Colchester area during the first few months of its formation. 

Thomas went to France with the 7th Battalion, arriving there on 28 July 1915.

The entry in the 7th Battalion War Diary for 29/30 August 1915 has:

Received news of blowing of mine in Sector D 3 29/8. Three men killed, five men wounded, all attached to 178 Tunnelling Company.  

Thomas was one of the three men killed in the mine explosion.