Thomas’ occupation and marital status on enlistment was detailed as a labourer, a Railway employee, from Haberfield, who was single.
- Name – Thomas Phillip Whitelaw (true name Philip Thomas Whitelaw)
- Date of Birth – 7 July 18971NSW Birth Death and Marriages, https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ Birth 20112/1897, Whitelaw, Phillip T, Parents Thomas J and Catherine, Registered in Braidwood. Accessed 24 March 2024.
- Parents – Thomas Joseph and Katherine Whitelaw of the Exchange Hotel, Goulburn2Commonwealth War Graves, https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/127477/thomas-phillip-whitelaw/. Accessed 24 March 2024.
- Enlisted at Sydney on 17 March 1916 and embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A37 Barambah on 23 June 19163University of NSW AIF project https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=321940. Accessed 24 March 2024.
- Regimental Number – 20194National Archives of Australia. https://www.naa.gov.au/. NAA: B2455, Whitelaw Thomas Phillip, Item 8386291. Accessed 22 March 2024.
- Aged at embarkation – 18 years and 7 months
- Military service – 56th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement. 56th Australian Infantry Battalion. Rank – Private. Awarded the British War Medal, Victory Medal5Virtual War Memorial Australia, https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/61307. Accessed 24 March 2024.
- Died of Septic Pneumonia on the 17 December 1919 in South Africa (aged 22 years)6Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1666701. Accessed 24 March 2024.
- Buried – Cape Town (Plumstead) Cemetery7Find a Grave.com. Panel 163, on a monument at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249858679/thomas-philip-whitelaw and https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159538919/thomas-philip-whitelaw. Accessed 22 March 2024.
Thomas Joseph Whitelaw (1860-1947) and Katherine [Catherine] Madigan had three sons – Thomas; Frank and Gerald. The Goulburn Evening Penny Post8Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881-1940), Thursday 25 May 1916, p 4. reported in May 1916 ‘Last week Private P. F.[T] Whitelaw, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. Whitelaw, of the Perseverance Hotel, Araluen, was entertained by the residents prior to leaving for the front. The soldier was only 18 when he enlisted. He was presented with a purse of sovereigns by the Recruiting Association.’
Phillip was based in Larkhill, England in September 1916, and deployed to Etaples, France in February 1917. He spent from March until July 1917 ill in hospital. He was wounded in action on 30 September 1917, re-joining his Battalion in November 1917. In November 1917 the Sydney Morning Herald9Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Friday 16 November 1917, p 9. reported ‘Wounded – Pte. THOS. PHILIP WHITELAW, Araluen.’
Phillip was wounded in action on 24 April 1918 with a gunshot wound and evacuated to Alexandria Military Hospital, Cosham, England on 1 May 1918. Returning to Australia on 22 September 1919 on HMAT Port Sydney, he disembarked in Cape Town on 14 October 1919, due to illness. Phillip was admitted to No. 1 General Hospital, Wynberg, with pneumonia, and died from septic pneumonia and emphysema on 17 December 1919, aged 22.
December 1919
The Catholic Press10Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW : 1895-1942), Thursday 15 January 1920, p 30. reported in January 1920 ‘R.I.P. WHITELAW.— At Military Hospital, Cape-town, Private Philip Thomas Whitelaw, 56th Battalion; eldest son of Thomas and Kate Whitelaw, Exchange Hotel, Goulburn, and grandson of the late Philip and Mary Madigan, late of Araluen; aged 22 years.’
In January 1920, the Catholic Press11Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW : 1895-1942), Thursday 8 January 1920, p 31. reported ‘Mr. Philip Whitelaw – The many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Whitelaw (late of Perseverance Hotel, Araluen), will regret to hear of their eldest son’s death, Private Philip Whitelaw. He enlisted with the 56th Battalion, A.I.F., on March 17, 1916, and was on three occasions wounded in France. After spending 12 months in England, the deceased sailed for home on September 23 [1919], but became so ill on the voyage that he had to be landed at the General Hospital, Capetown, where he died on December 17 last, fortified with the rites of Holy Church. The deceased was most popular, being only 23 years of age, and his death was made particularly sad owing to his parents being notified at Christmas Eve—the time he was really expected to arrive home. — R.I.P.’