On 3 August 1944, 22-year-old Bob Thomas was killed in action while serving in Italy with the 3rd Grenadiers.
Born and educated in Sherborne – Sherborne Prep and Sherborne School (Abbey House) – Bob had planned after the war to take holy orders and to return to Sherborne to serve the town he loved. In one of his last letters to his parents he wrote, ‘I can’t somehow picture myself living far away from it all. I want to help make Sherborne a perfect post-war town. I do so want to make people appreciate lovely things – to know what lovely things are.’
After Bob’s death, his parents published a collection of the poems, short stories and letters he had written to them from Italy. Bob describes in his letters how, when travelling along bumpy roads in the back of a lorry or during breaks from fighting, he would comfort himself by taking imaginary walks around Sherborne and the surrounding countryside. Bob’s love of his home town became the inspiration for many of his poems and short stories.
Find out more about A Sherborne Soldier’s Home Thoughts from Abroad
Posted 7 November 2023 by Sherborne School Archives
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