Thomas Mercer was a soccer player and referee who enlisted in August 1918. He never saw action, with the war ending before he left the local training depot. At the time of his enlistment, Mercer was married to Jeanie Allan and the first of their eight children had been born, with the second imminent.
Mercer had arrived in Queensland in 1910 and went on to Ipswich, working as a labourer for the Federal Hotel. He had been heavily associated with the St Stephens Presbyterian Church, where he sang with the choir and played for their soccer team. The club played the Ipswich and West Moreton competitions until the end of the foreshortened 1916 season. St Stephens saw more than a teams-worth of players enlist and subsequently did not reemerge when competition restarted after the war.
The Mercers eventually moved to the Sherwood area of Brisbane, where Mercer would work as a baker. This allowed him to enlist for the second World War in 1940 aged 50. Despite being over the prescribed age, Mercer was approved to serve with home service due to the lack of cooks. He was discharged in March 1941, but re-enlisted in July. A period of illness saw a final discharge in September 1941.
Mercer died aged 61 in 1951 from injuries sustained after being hit by a truck on Bundamba Creek bridge. Mercer had been at a soccer match before the accident.