Frederick Herbert Thompson (1890–1915) was an Australian national representative

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and soldier who fell in the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Born in

Maroubra, New South Wales Maroubra ( ) is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area ...

to Henry and Dorothy Thompson, Fred Thompson played at number eight with the

Eastern Suburbs RUFC Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football Club may refer to: * Eastern Suburbs District RUFC (NSW), est. 1900, based in Sydney, Australia * Eastern Suburbs RUFC (Canberra), est. 1938, based in Canberra, Australia * Easts Tigers Rugby Union, est. 1947, b ...

. His international debut was made during the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

1913 tour of New Zealand captained by

Larry Dwyer Lawrence Joseph Dwyer (2 February 1884 – August 1964) was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative fullback who captained the Wallabies in 1913. Dwyer, a fullback, was born in Orange, New South Wales. He was sch ...

. Thompson played in all three Tests of the tour. In 1914 the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

came to Australia and again Thompson played in all three Tests, twice as number 8 and once at flanker. His rugby career ended with the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

with a tally of six international rugby caps for Australia. He enlisted in Sydney in the

AIF AIF, A.I.F., AiF or aif may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Argumenty i Fakty'' (AiF), a Russian newspaper * Australians in Film (AiF), a Los Angeles-based organisation for the promotion of Australian actors and filmmakers * Aspen Ideas ...

in January 1915 six months after war was declared, citing his occupation as carpenter. He embarked as a Private with the 13th Battalion (3rd reinforcement) from Sydney on 11 February 1915 on board HMAT ''A49 Seang Choon''. He saw active service at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

and was there killed in action on 29 May 1915. He is buried in the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery at Gallipoli.AIF Project

Sources

* Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney (J.C Davis article "Patriots of the Battlefield" 1st published in ''The Referee'' Sept 1915)
Fred Thompson's record at the AIF Project

Footnotes

Australian rugby union players Australian military personnel killed in World War I Australia international rugby union players 1915 deaths 1890 births Burials at Shrapnel Valley Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union number eights Eastern Suburbs RUFC players New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-1890s-stub