David Cuthbert Thomas

David Cuthbert Thomas (1895 – 18 March 1916) was a Welsh soldier of the First World War, best known for his association with the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who after his death became the subject of some of the greatest war poems by Sassoon and Robert Graves.

Thomas was the son of Evan and Ethelinda Thomas of Llanedi Rectory, Pontarddulais, Glamorgan, and was educated at Christ College, Brecon.[1] His first commission was as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers. That regiment also included the writers Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, with whom he became close friends. After training, Thomas was posted to the regiment's 1st Battalion, which was then attached to 22 Brigade, itself part of 7th Infantry Division. On 18 March 1916 Thomas was leading a working party to repair wire emplacements in no man's land at the Citadel, near Fricourt in France when he was shot in the throat. He then walked to a first aid post for treatment but died soon afterwards after he began choking.[2] He is buried at New Military Cemetery at Fricourt (reference D3 in Point 110). Graves wrote the poem 'Not Dead' in Thomas's memory and Thomas also appears in Graves' autobiography Good-Bye to All That, Sassoon's 'Sherston trilogy' of fictionalised autobiographies (as "Dick Tiltwood") and several other poems by both men.