9255 Private William Sherman Thomas was born on 23 October 1898, the son of Elias Thomas and Charlotte Miller. He had six brothers and two sisters. Thomas was Haudenosaunee from Six Nations First Nation, Oshweken, Ontario.

Thomas was working as a clerk and had served six months with The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada when he enlisted with the 3rd Battalion CEF on 22 September 1914.

As he would only have been 14 at the time, he lied on the attestation form (as many others did) that he was born in 1895. He enlisted with his brother Charles Alfred Thomas and they had consecutive service numbers. Charles would die in June 1916 at the Battle of Mont Sorrel.

W. S. Thomas travelled with the 3rd Battalion to England in October 1914 and after further training, the Battalion landed in France in early 1915.

Thomas was struck in his right eye by a piece of shrapnel on 28 May 1915 while in the trenches at Festubert. He was admitted to a hospital in Versaille. In June he also contracted influenza. Thomas was then transferred to a number of military hospitals in England and eventually, his right eye was removed. This resulted in him being deemed medically unfit and he was struck off strength to Canada in September 1915. He was finally discharged from the CEF on 29 December 1915  and recommended for a pension.

Thomas drowned on 10 July 1917 in Fort Erie, Ontario, and is buried in Ohsweken Baptist Cemetery Six Nations, Brant County.

He is included on the Six Nations WWI Memorial Plaque.