Tom was born on September 26th 1899 at 19 Eastfield Buildings, Andover, Hants.
He moved with his parents and their growing family to the Avon valley around Netheravon, and after 1912 to Cliff End, Figheldean.
He appears in the 1901 census as ‘Thomas J’, age 1, and the 1911 census as ‘Thomas James’, 11.
Late in the Great War, at the age of 18 he enlisted in the Army at Salisbury but oddly he was assigned to the Warwickshire Regiment. Before returning to action in August 1918, he spent a weekend at home; this was the only occasion on which the entire family was together, Jesse junior having been born the previous January.
No. 50404 Private T J Jacobs, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
In the final month of the war, his unit was still fighting in the Ecaillon Valley, Nord. Tom was serving with B Company, 2nd/6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The regimental diary has this entry for October 24th:
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