Thomas Priday

Thomas William Priday
Born1912/1913
Redmarley, Gloucestershire, England
Died9 December 1939 (aged 26–27)
near Metz, France
Buried
Luttange Communal Cemetery, France
49°16'19.3"N 6°18'53.0"E
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
RankCorporal
Service number4031789
UnitKing's Shropshire Light Infantry
Battles / warsWorld War II

Corporal Thomas William Priday (1912/1913– 9 December 1939) was the first British Army soldier to be killed in action during the Second World War.[1]

Early life

The son of Allen L. Priday and Elisabeth A. Priday of The Gravel Pits,[2] Redmarley in Gloucestershire. His baptism is recorded as having taken place on 1 June 1913 in Redmarley.[3] Priday travelled to Canada aboard the Canada Pacific Line ship 'Montrose' in 1930 to work in farming.[4] He returned to the UK in 1932 aboard the 'Duchess of Atholl' of the same line.[5]

Service in France

Following the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France on Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939[6] a British Expeditionary Force (BEF) under the command of Lord Gort was sent to France. Although technical personnel had been arriving since September 4, the force began their move as a whole on September 10.[7]

Lord Gort outlines in his dispatches that he made arrangements in November 1939 for a British brigade to serve on the Saar Front under French command.[7] It was while serving in this capacity that Corporal Priday was killed in the area of Metz.[1] On 9 December 1939 he was out on a night patrol when the group he was with lost their way in the dark. Corporal Priday stepped on a French landmine and was killed. He was buried with full military honours at Luttange Communal Cemetery.[8][9] The funeral was attended by the French General in command of the area as well as a detachment of French troops.[2] He died at the age of 27 while serving as a corporal with the 1st Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI).[9]

His death was reported in The Times on 1 January 1940 under the headline 'First British Soldier Killed in Action'.[2]

Priday's younger brother Archibald served with the same battalion.[2]

His family reside in Gloucestershire.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b "The King's Shropshire Light Infantry 1939 – 1945". Shropshire Regimental Museum. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Various – First British Soldier Killed in Action". The Times. No. 48501. 1 January 1940. p. 8.
  3. ^ Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, England; Reference Numbers: P265 IN 1/7
  4. ^ Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890–1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
  5. ^ The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 988
  6. ^ "1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany". BBC – On This Day. 3 September 1939.
  7. ^ a b Gort, Viscount. "First Despatch". The London Gazette (35305): 5899, 5901.
  8. ^ Allport, Alan (2015). Browned Off and Bloody-Minded: The British Soldier Goes to War 1939–1945. Yale University Press. p. 44. ISBN 9780300170757.
  9. ^ a b "Casualty Record - Corporal Thomas William Priday". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.