On 11 July 1917, Charles and Agnes Scott received news that their 20 year old son Private Thomas Alexander Scott had died of illness. He had been born in Christchurch in 1896 and was brought up on his family farm at Coutts Island. He had been working as a teamster in Rakaia in Mid-Canterbury before he enlisted in August 1916. Despite his Canterbury origins, he served in the 3rd Battalion of the Auckland Infantry Regiment, and the circumstances of his death merited a Court of Enquiry. He was found dead in his bivouac by a comrade and examined by a doctor. Evidence presented to the Court suggested that Thomas Scott had been presenting recurring symptoms of gastro-enteritis and dysentery, and despite the claim that “his platoon sergeant gave him as much rest as possible”, he died “from exhaustion and heart failure aggravated by recurring attacks of gastro-enteritis.” It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the rigours of two months front line service were too great for him to sustain. He was buried at Motor Car Corner Cemetery in Belgium, and is commemorated on the Coutt's Island memorial (see below).
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