In the lead up to Anzac Day, the Bunbury Mail reflects on those soldiers who lived in Bunbury and gave service to their country.
Thomas Herman Dedman was born in Northam in May 1894 before moving to Bunbury. He went to Bunbury Infant School – now the site of the Stirling Arts Centre.
Mr Dedman enlisted on June 21, 1915 at Blackboy Hill, Western Australia, going into the 28th Battalion as a Private.
On September 2, 1915, he embarked on the Anchises from Fremantle before disembarking in Alexandria, Egypt on September 25.
He then joined the 28th Battalion in Gallipoli in October. The following June, Dedman was involved in the Black Camouflage Anzacs.
The group, comprised of soldiers from the 26th and 28th Battalions, completed the first ever offensive by Australian soldiers on the Western Front on June 6, 1916.
The Black Camouflage Anzacs were given the name for wearing British uniforms and black sand shoes as well as for putting charcoal on their faces.
They raided German trenches to gain intelligence and retreated with a handful of prisoners.
At the age of 22, Dedman was killed in action in Flers, France during the Battle of Ancre Heights.
He was the great uncle of Peter Dedman.
Peter has spent the past ten years researching his family’s involvement in WWI and WWII.
He provided his research to the City of Bunbury and military history researcher Jeff Peirce for the Bunbury-Wellington District Anzac Heroes – Great War 1914-1918 Centenary of Gallipoli project.
Visit anzacheroes.com.au/ for more information about the involvement of service personnel from the region.