Notes
The Roll lists his address as 3 Parliament Street, and states that he died of sickness as the "result of War service".
(The birth of Thomas Archibald Tipler was registered in Peterborough District in 1878. His baptism on 21/4/1878 as the son of Thomas and Martha Ann Tipler of Millfield was recorded in the Baptism register of St Paul's Church in Peterborough. On the 1881 census he was living with his parents at 1 Hope Terrace in Alma Road. On the 1891 census the family lived at 9 Huntley Grove. On the 1901 census Thomas' widowed mother was living in Parliament Street in Peterborough; Thomas himself was in South Africa at that time, serving as a Private in the 12th Royal Lancers under regimental number 4578.
On 6/10/1902 the marriage of Thomas Archibald Tipler of 7 Parliament Street to Susan Pilgrim was recorded in the Marriage register of St Mark's Church in Peterborough; Thomas stated he was a gas fitter, aged 24. On the 1911 census he and Susan were living at 3 Parliament Street with their two children; he gave his occupation as tramway motorman (Driver).
The Medal Rolls record that Thomas Archibald Tipler of the Royal Army Service Corps, regimental number M2/080341, was sent to France on 7/5/1915, and that he was later honourably discharged on 20/12/1918. He was awarded the Silver War Badge serial number B68423, the Medal Roll for which stated that he had enlisted on 26/4/1915 and was discharged aged 40 years and 9 months on 20/12/1918 due to sickness.
Thomas died on 14/9/1920 at 3 Parliament Street in Peterborough. His death certificate recorded him as aged 42, occupation "Motor Bus Driver (Army Pensioner)"; the sole cause of death was stated to be pulmonary tuberculosis, from which he had been suffering for 2 years; his widow registered the death. His funeral was reported on 25/9/1920 in the Peterborough Advertiser, which stated that prior to joining the Army in WW1 he had worked for the Peterborough Electric Tramway Company. The report also stated that it was during his military service in France and Italy that he had contracted the illness from which he had died. He was buried with military honours at Eastfield Cemetery, his coffin carried by 6 Comrades of the Great War. The report also mentioned his previous service in the Boer War. (Cemetery records indicate that he was buried in Eastfield Cemetery Section 2, Grave 777).
Thomas is not currently recorded in the casualty registers of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. When he had enlisted in April 1915 he had evidently been assessed as fit for active service, as he was posted overseas the following month. His tuberculosis did not develop until approximately September 1918, so was certainly contracted while a soldier; he was discharged from the Army three months later, in December 1918. As neither his death certificate nor obituary mentioned any other health problems, the evidence suggests that the TB from which he died was the cause of his Army discharge. Unfortunately no trace has been found of his pension file, which would have contained the form that recorded the Army's decision as to whether the tuberculosis had been caused or aggravated by his military service, which is one of the criteria for commemoration by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. However, his obituary stated that the tuberculosis had been contracted while serving overseas. Papers have now been sent to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with a request that they consider whether the available evidence is sufficient to establish his eligibility for acceptance as a First World War casualty.