Thomas Catterall was born on the 28th April 1889, the eldest son of Elizabeth and Edward. The 1901 Census recorded them having four children and living at 3 Hamilton Road in Chorley; there was no record of them on the 1911 Census.
Thomas joined up on the 18th September 1914, giving his mother as his next of kin at 14 Knowles Street in Chorley. He gave the same address upon leaving the Army on the 21st February 1919. Thomas was with the Chorley Pals at Serre on the 1st July 1916, being wounded on the 15th May 1917 whilst attacking German trenches just south of the village of Oppy. He was admitted to Chelsea Hospital in London and after receiving treatment was transferred to the 3rd (Depot) Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment on the 17th September.
At the start of 1918 he was transferred to the 157th Protection Company Royal Defence Corps (they protected strategic positions and installations in the U.K. and Ireland), spending from the13th January to the 9th March with them. Thomas was posted, briefly, to the 35th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers until the 9th March when he was given his final posting with the 13th (Garrison) Battalion of the West Riding Regiment.
He was single at the time of enlisting and during his Army service.
