Thomas Jesse Glenister was born in Hemel Hempstead on Tuesday, 30th November 1897 to Amos William Glenister and Lois Amelia Putnam. Amos and Lois had nine children together who were; Alfred William, Beatrice Mary, Amos Seabrook, Joseph Austin, Annie, William, Thomas Jesse and two others who died in infancy. One of Thomas’s older brothers William was also killed in the Great War, falling at Passchendaele five moths after Thomas. William’s biography also appears on this site.

The family lived at 10 Corner Hall in Hemel Hempstead, next door to the forge where Thomas’ father Amos worked as a Blacksmith and Farrier just as his father Joseph had done. In 1911, when Thomas was still at school, his oldest brother Alfred had returned home with two of his sons who were only two years younger than their uncle Thomas. Indeed, the three boys all attended the same local school, the Two Waters British school, which Thomas started on the 1st February 1905 and left on the 7th November 1911 aged thirteen.

On leaving school Thomas went to work with John Dickinson & Co. Limited like his brother William and he was there on the outbreak of war but too young to enlist. In early 1915 the Glenister family suffered a double tragedy when Thomas’s parents both died within a few months of each other at the beginning of the year. Thomas continued to work at Dickinsons until he reached his eighteenth birthday and within six months, had obtained permission from his employer to leave and join the Colours.

He travelled to Watford in June 1916 where he attested and enlisted with the Bedfordshire Regiment. He was immediately posted to Felixstowe for basic training with the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion and spend the next seven months there before being sent to France. When he did go, he was posted to the 16th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (Pioneers) and joined his new regiment on 12th February 1917 at Ouderdom south-west of Poperinghe in Belgium.

By April Thomas had moved with his Battalion to the Wytschaete-Messines sector as part of the 36th (Ulster) Division and was immediately engaged in the preparations for the forthcoming allied attack on the Messines Ridge. This involved trench digging in the main, but also the creation of dug outs, gun emplacements and laying narrow gauge railway track. It was dangerous work and the Battalion regularly suffered casualties due to enemy shelling.

During the Battle of Messines Thomas and his comrades continued their work which now included road and track clearing to allow transport to move forward. By 21st June he was engaged in the difficult task of laying railway track over the badly broken up ground and most of this had to be carried out at night due to the proximity of the enemy’s position. The working parties suffered heavy shelling almost every night and it was during this work that Thomas was killed on Thursday, 21st June 1917.

A report appeared in the Hemel Gazette a month after his death detailing his sister Annie’s wedding and recoding that “The wedding was a quiet one owing to the recent loss of the bride’s brother” 

Thomas was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co Limited war memorial in Apsley.

Thomas is Remembered with Honour in Wytschaete Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, where he is interred in Grave I.F.5.

He was only 19 years old when he died.

Thomas was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.