25753 Pioneer
THOMAS WILLIAM CURTIS
Royal Engineers
by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis ©2008
Thomas William Curtis was born in Southwark, Surrey in 1890. His next of kin was his wife, Ethel Curtis, of 5 Bryn Hyfryd, Lurane, Conway Wales.
Curtis enlisted as a Pioneer in the Royal Engineers at London. From his regimental number it is apparent that he was a Regular Army soldier and that he had enlisted prior to the Great War of 1914-1918. After the outbreak of the war he served in France and Flanders with the original British Expeditionary Force (the "Old Contemptibles"). He was appointed an Acting 2nd Corporal and prior to the Armistice he was assigned to the Royal Engineer Training Center at Deganwy, Gwynedd, Wales. He died at home on the 7th of November 1918.
For his service during the Great War, Acting 2nd Corporal Curtis was awarded the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
REFERENCES:
1. Soldiers Died in the Great War.
2. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.