Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
Thomas William Moore was born on the 16th December 1878 in Hammersmith, Middx. Thomas married Henrietta Gosling in the 4th quarter of 1906 in the Leicester distrct. In April 1911 Thomas was employed as a carriage cleaner for the Midland Railway Company and was residing at 11, Archdeacon Lane, Leicester with his wife Henrietta, a glove trade worker, born 1883 in Gorton, Lancs., and their son Frederick, born 1910 in Leicester. Two further children were born, Grace in the 1st quarter of 1912 and Ronald H., in the 3rd quarter of 1915, both children were born in the Leicester district. Thomas enlisted into the Royal Marines on the 8th August 1898 in London, and was allocated the service number 9334. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 6 inches in height, his complexion was described as fresh, he had dark brown hair and dark grey eyes, it was noted that he had VIOLET and an anchor tattooed on his left forearm and a pierced heart and letter R tattooed on his right forearm. He gave his date and place of birth as the 16th December 1878 in Hammersmith, London, Middx., his trade or calling as painter and his religion as Church of England. He gave his father -?- of 65, Taylor Road, Hammersmith as his next of kin, later changed to his mother, of 9, Holland Road, Leicester, then changed to 6, Vauxhall Street, Leicester. His record of service began when he was posted to the Recruit Depot at Walmer, Deal, Kent on the 8/8/1898 – 10/5/1899, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division, 11/5/1899 – 24/1/00, when he embarked. HMS Vivid, 25/1/00 – 9/4/01. HMS Talbot, 10/4/01 – 1/3/04. HMS Fearless, 2/3/04 – 30/6/04. HMS Cressy, 1/7/04 – 6/10/04, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division, 7/10/04 – 17/12/04, when he embarked. HMS Emerald, 18/12/04 – 19/1/07, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division, 20/1/07 – 9/7/07, when he embarked. HMS Doris, 10/7/07 - 3/5/09, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division, 4/5/09 – 27/6/10, when he embarked. HMS Carnarvon, 28/6/10 – 1/8/10, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division, 2/8/10 – 10/8/10, when he completed his engagement and was discharged and enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve on the 11th August 1910, Class “B.” His character assessment was “Very Good.” His Reserve Service Number was RFR/PLY/B/736. Thomas re-enlisted and was posted to the Plymouth Division, Training on the 14/8/10 – 30/8/13. Plymouth under Training HMS Eclipse, 31/8/13 – 25/7/14, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division (Mobilisation), 4/8/14 – 7/8/14, when he embarked. HMS Caronia, 8/8/14 – 7/8/16, when he was transferred. Plymouth Division, 8/8/16 – 24/8/16, when he was transferred. E.L. Deal, Depot, 25/8/16 – 5/4/18, when he was transferred. 4th Royal Marine Battalion, 6/4/18 – 22/23/4/18, when he was killed in action during the attack on Zeebrugge, Belgium. The background relating to the circumstances in which Thomas lost his life are as follows; The Zeebrugge Raid that took place on the 23rd April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German vessels from leaving port. The port was used by the Imperial German Navy as a base for U-boats and light shipping, which were a threat to Allied shipping, especially in the English Channel. Several attempts to close the Flanders ports by bombardment failed and Operation Hush a plan to advance up the coast in 1917 proved abortive. As shipping losses by U-boats increased, finding a way to close the ports became urgent and a raid was considered. The first attempt on Zeebrugge was made on the 2nd April 1918 but cancelled at the last moment, after the wind direction changed and made it impossible to lay a smoke-screen. Another attempt was made on the 23rd April with a concurrent attack on Ostend. Two of three block ships were scuttled in the narrowest part of the Bruges Canal and one of two submarines rammed the viaduct, which linked the shore and the mole, to isolate the German garrison. The block ships were sunk in the wrong place and the canal was open after a few days, to submarines at high tide. The Zeebrugge Raid was promoted by Allied propaganda as a British victory and resulted in the awarding of eight Victoria Crosses. Of the 1,700 men involved in the operation, it was recorded that 300 were wounded and more than 200 killed. Another source gave figures of 227 dead and 356 wounded. One destroyer was sunk. Among the dead was Wing Commander Frank Arthur Brock, the man who devised and commanded the operation of the smoke screen. Some of the casualties were buried in England, either because they died of their wounds en route, or because their comrades had recovered their bodies with the intention of repatriating their remains. Two men were buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent. At least nine men were buried in the St. James’ Cemetery, Dover. German casualties were eight dead and sixteen wounded.