Pte 202836 Thomas James Hennessy

• Age: 23
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Tuesday 4th December 1917
• Commemorated at: Hooge Crater Cem, Zillebeke
  Panel Ref: X.D.2

Thomas James enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 18th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 202836 when he was killed in action on the 4^th December 1917 aged 23. 

The 18th Bn War Diary records -

On 4th December the battalion moved up to front line trenches at Gheluvelt, No.3 Coy on right, No.4 Coy in centre, and No.2 Coy on left.  Heavy enemy shelling, all calibres and Minenwerfers. Several direct hits on R. Coy posts. Retaliation asked for but little response from our guns.  Casualties 6 killed, 6 wounded.

Thomas James Hennessy was one of those casualties referred to in the diary as killed. The other men killed on the same day were;  James Gerald Baron, John George Haywood, Cornelius Palfrey, Edward Ernest Roberts, and Peter Walsh. 

He was buried close to where he fell but after the war when graves where concentrated he was reburied and now rests at Hooge Crater Cemetery, Zillebeke, Belgium where his headstone bears the epitaph:

“SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND OUR LADY OF LOURDES HAVE MERCY ON HIM”

Hooge Chateau and its stables were the scene of very fierce fighting throughout the First World War. On 31 October 1914, the staff of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were wiped out when the chateau was shelled; from 24 May to 3 June 1915, the chateau was defended against German attacks and in July 1915, the crater was made by a mine sprung by the 3rd Division. On 30 July, the Germans took the chateau, and on 9 August, it and the crater were regained by the 6th Division. The Germans retook Hooge on 6 June 1916 and on 31 July 1917, the 8th Division advanced 1.6 Kms beyond it. It was lost for the last time in April 1918, but regained by the 9th (Scottish) and 29th Divisions on 28 September.

Hooge Crater Cemetery was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October 1917. It contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D of Plot I, but was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields of Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt and other smaller cemeteries.

There are now 5,916 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 3,570 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials record the names of a number of casualties either known or believed to be buried among them, or whose graves in other cemeteries were destroyed by shell fire.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

He was reported killed in the Liverpool Daily Post on 09th January 1918.

Soldiers Effects, Army Pay of £4 16s 11d, War Gratuity of £3 and Pension to mother Mary Brady, the pension finished in 1932. There is, however, no record of Mary Brennan becoming Mary Brady. 

Another pension was refused to Emily Elizabeth Lynch, 14 Alexander St, Kirkdale. She was only 14 on the 1911 census, so possibly a girlfriend or fiancée. The card also references another service number 65108 (possibly territorial?).

On the 1921 Census at 35 Henry Edward Street, widowed mother Mary, aged 50, is living with daughters Mary 18 and Sarah 16. She lives with married daughter Sarah Andrews at 71 Adlington Street and 40 Bispham Street, but is not with them on the 1939 Register at 39D Standish Street. No death record has been found. 

Thomas James is also commemorated on the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Memorial.

We currently have no further information on Thomas James Hennessy, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.