Sep 8, 1887

Born in Merivale, Ontario to Thomas and Mary Jane (nee Griffith) Plunkett

Sep 4, 1907

Married to Ada Rose Lovick in Hintonburg, Ontario (now part of Ottawa)

Feb 24, 1916

Attested into the 156^th Battalion CEF in Ottawa, Ontario

Ø  Number 639746

Ø  Next of kin given as Mrs. Ada Plunkett, wife, Merivale, (now part of Ottawa) Ontario

Ø  Previous occupation given as Labourer

Ø  No previous military experience given

Ø  Religion given as Church of England

 
On attesting he gave his birth year as 1886

Jun 7, 1916

Transferred to the 207^th Battalion in the Rockcliffe Camp, Ottawa

Jan 18, 1917

The battalion left Ottawa and proceeded to Amherst, Nova Scotia to continue training

Jun 2, 1917

Embarked the SS Olympic in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Jun 9, 1917

Disembarked in Liverpool, England and proceeded to Seaford where the battalion was absorbed into the 7^th Reserve Battalion to continue training

Sep 13, 1917

Transferred to the 21^st Battalion and arrived at the No. 2 CIBD (Canadian Infantry Base Depot) in Etaples, France as part of a draft of 42 reinforcements from England and TOS (Taken On Strength) the 21^st Battalion

Sep 27, 1917

After leaving the base depot he joined the CC Rein C (Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp) in Villers au Bois, France

Oct 18, 1917

After leaving the reinforcement camp, Private Plunkett joined the 21^st Battalion in billets in Ourton.  The battalion was conducting practice drills in preparation for the attack on Passchendaele

Nov 2, 1917

During the evening, the battalion moved into the Passchendaele front line north east of Crest Farm.

Nov 4, 1917

Less than 3 weeks after joining the battalion, and seeing action for the first time, Private Plunket was killed in action.  He was first reported missing, but his body was eventually found and was buried in a field south of Crest Farm. 

 
Following the war, the Imperial War Graves Commission made an attempt to locate his remains in order to rebury him in a proper military cemetery but his remains could not be located.  It appears that he disappeared in the mud of Passchendaele.  As a result, his name is honoured on the walls of the Menin Gate for those who died in Belgium during the war and have no known grave.

Following the war, the British War Medal, Victory Medal, Plaque (Dead Man’s Penny), Scroll, and Memorial Cross were sent to his widow, Mrs. Willard Comrie, (she had remarried), 398 Nepean St., Ottawa, Ontario

 
A second Memorial Cross was sent to his mother, Mrs. Thomas Plunkett, c/o Sam Stinson, Merivale, Ontario

Aug 30, 1919

Thomas Plunkett’s widow married Willard Comrie in Ottawa, Ontario.  Willard Comrie, 246759, served in the 2^nd Battalion CEF and had been invalided home after being wounded.