On this day in 1944, Jack Locke Loosemore (1916-1944) was killed in action in the Second World War.
Jack, aged 27, was a troop sergeant in the 1st Royal Tank Regiment (Royal Armoured Corps, 7th Armoured Division) when he died in Normandy in France on August 2, 1944.
A native of North Molton, Jack had been in the Army for over 10 years, serving abroad for six years.
He was one of the original ‘Desert Rats’ – who helped defeat the German army in North Africa – and was mentioned in dispatches in 1940 and 1941.
He returned to Devon in January 1944 to marry Ida Doris Davey.
They had been married for just a few months before he lost his life.’
Jack joined the Royal Artillery in 1933 and was transferred to the Tank Regiment the following year.
His death was first announced in The North Devon Journal on August 24, 1944 with the following words: ‘Through mud and blood to the green fields beyond’.
Two years later, Ida published a memorial notice in the newspaper which included the words: ‘In proud and loving memory of my husband … God’s greatest gift – remembrance.’
His parents also published a memorial which included the words: ‘Thoughts drift back to bygone days, life moves on, but memory stays.’
Jack was buried in the Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy, France.
His headstone includes the inscription: ‘We thank God for every remembrance of him’.
He is also remembered on the Second World War Memorial at North Molton Parish Church.
Paul Roberts
NOTES
Jack’s widow, Ida Doris Loosemore (nee Davey) (1916-1996), married Albert Edward Western (1914-1995) in 1948 in Barnstaple. He was the son of William Western (1883-1954) and Lily Ann Roberts (1882-1957). Lily was a daughter of William Roberts (1855-1923), the eldest son of John Roberts (1829-1919), my great-great grandfather who had 30 grandsons serving in the Great War.
Born in North Molton in 1916, Jack was the son of Alfred William Loosemore (1885-1969) and Edith Elizabeth Locke (1885-1957), who for many years lived at Wilson House, North Molton. He married Ida in 1944 in Barnstaple and they set up home at 13, Higher Maudlin Street, Barnstaple.
Picture below
Bayeux War Cemetery where Jack was buried. Photographed in July 2008 by Kevin C Fitzpatrick (K72ndst, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bayeuxcemetery11.jpg
