The Times/1908/Obituary/John Wellesley Thomas

By the death on February 6 of the name of a very distinguished soldier, whose active military career dates back to the middle of the last century, is removed from the Army List. Sir John W. Thomas, who was an elder son of the late Admiral Jennings Thomas, R.N., was born in 1822. He received his first commission in 1839. He served with the 40th Regiment in Afghanistan in 1841-42, and he was also present at the action of Maharajpur, when he was severely wounded. His decorations for those engagements included the clasps "Kandahar, Kabul, Ghuznee" and the bronze star for Maharajpur. In 1854 he commanded detachments in the operations in Australia against the insurgents at the Ballarat goldfields. In North China in 1860 he served with the 67th Regiment and was wounded when in command of a half-battalion attacking the North Taku Fort. For this campaign he was mentioned in despatches and given a C.B. Two years later he commanded the 67th Regiment and a brigade at the second capture of Khading in the Taiping rebellion. This was his last active service. He retired in 1881 with the honorary rank of lieutenant-general. In 1882 he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Hampshire Regiment, and in 1904 was made a K.C.B. The funeral will take place at Kensal Green on Monday at 2.45pm.