"Private Thomas George Fitzsimmons, son of Mr G Fitzsimmons, of Ardgowan, died in the Dunedin Hospital at 5.30 this morning. He left New Zealand with the Thirteenth Reinforcements on May 27th, 1916, and after seeing some service in France, returned home invalided in May of this year, suffering from a shrapnel wound in the hip. He was operated upon in the Dunedin Hospital on Tuesday, where he succumbed as already stated. The wound (his second) which sent him back was received on the Somme, and he was twice unsuccessfully operated on for the extraction of the shrapnel before being invalided to the Dominion. Two brothers are at the front. Prior to enlisting, Private Fitzsimmons was engaged in farming pursuits at home. -Oamaru Mail, 13/7/1918.
The Official History of the Otago Infantry Regiment has this to say about the time when Thomas received his ultimately fatal wound: "On October 20th the 2nd Battalion moved into the front line and took over from the 2nd Battalion of Wellington. The Battalion remained in the line for a period of six days, the enemy displaying very little activity during the tour. The only incident of note occurred during the night of the 25th. At 8 p.m. one of our listening posts sighted a party of six Germans at a short distance from our wire..."
The "very little activity" displayed by the enemy included a shrapnel shell. These shells were like a very large shotgun cartridge. It was fused to fire its bullets while approaching its target and spread a cone of metal balls in front of it. The arrival of one of those pieces of metal ended Thomas Fitzsimons' military career and began his time of pain.
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| Oamaru Old Cemetery |
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| Cross-section of a British 18-pounder shrapnel shell - Wikipedia. |
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