Pte. Thomas James Stevenson

Thomas James Stevenson was born at Kūmara on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island on 16 September 1897. His parents were Thomas Stevenson (1852-1918) and Sarah Hellena Stevenson (Katto) (1862-1941) (aka 'Ellen'). His father, Thomas, died at Christchurch on 3 May 1918, and was buried in Linwood Cemetery. Two months later, on 10 July 1918, Thomas left New Zealand to serve during World War I with the 40th Reinforcements on board the HMNZT (His Majesty's New Zealand Troopship) 'Tahiti'. During the voyage, the 'Tahiti' was resupplied at Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, which was founded in 1787 as a home to repatriated former slaves from London and the Americas. Sadly, the captain and wireless operator of the 'Tahiti' visited the HMS 'Mantua' for a meeting, not knowing that those on board were already infected with influenza, and bringing the disease back on board the 'Tahiti'. The first case on board the 'Tahiti' was detected on 26 August, the day they departed Freetown. Within three days, more than 800 of those on board were infected. The rapid spread continued, and eventually 1100 of the 1217 people on board had caught the disease. Medical staff were ill themselves and simply overwhelmed. Isolating those that were sick was impossible, a dire situation exacerbated by poor ventilation and overcrowding. Pte. Thomas James Stevenson died on board the 'Tahiti' on 7 September 1918, a victim of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. He was buried at sea. By the time the 'Tahiti' reached Plymouth in South West England three days later, 68 were dead with another nine later dying onshore. Thomas is remembered on the Canterbury Provincial Memorial in Christchurch, and also on his father's headstone at Linwood Cemetery [Block 36A, Plot 42.]. His mother, Sarah, died in Wellington on 7 July 1941 and was buried in Karori Cemetery [Roman Catholic 1, Plot 333 Z]. The 'Tahiti' is infamously remembered as the 'death ship' of 1918 (bio by Debbie McCauley, 26 December 2022).

Sources

1. Cenotaph: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/...
2. New Zealand and World War One Roll of Honour: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sooty/genealogy/nzefrohSM-SY.html / Ref 16.4.2021