Elsewhere in my website I have commented on the fact that there appeared to be hardly any members of the family who served with the Armed Forces during the First World War. My Grandfather Bernard was in the Royal Navy throughout the conflict and was fortunate enough to survive or the whole story of the Loosemore family would have ground to a halt at that time.
I have identified that Arthur Marmaduke Shepard served with the Army and a very distant relative William Peniston may also have served. It is only very recently that I discovered that my great grandfather's nephew lost his life in the second battle of Passchendaele. His story and that of his parents and siblings follows...
William Loosemore 1850 - 1893 (great great uncle)
One of my great grandfather Harry’s older brothers William Loosemore was born on 24th December 1850 in Crediton. We have already seen him the census records for 1851, 1861 and 1871. In 1881 when Harry has left the family home, completed his apprenticeship and is now living in Lambeth, William is still living with his father George and step-mother Emma in Dean Street Crediton together with the children still remaining at home.
Investigations into the marriage of William produced two possibilities, either that he married Sarah Hine in 1876 or Sarah Howard in 1882
The research done by Vic and Ronald Loosemore has settled on Sarah Hine although as she is from Honiton and this is 25 miles away from Crediton I have discounted her. There are two William Loosemores who could be the husband of Sarah Hine, our relative born in Crediton, and the other born in Rackenford on 15th July 1850. Unfortunately both of their fathers are called George, one born in Witheridge the other in Rackenford. This means we do not have an immediately obvious ancestry. Pursuit of the census records for both families have various indications which make my presumption the more likely.
Sarah Howard was born in Crediton, worked in Sandford and Exeter, all within 10 miles of Crediton. In view of this I believe she is the most likely candidate and so I have concentrated on her history. The discovery of the 1891 census record indicates that William’s wife Sarah was born in Morchard Bishop which confirms her identity.
William Loosemore married Sarah Howard in Crediton during the first half of 1882. Sarah Howard was born in Crediton in 1855. She gives her birthplace in the census as Morchard Bishop 8 miles north west of Crediton. In 1861 and 1871 she is living in Sandford with her father John, mother Mary and her brother and two sisters. By 1871 she is working as a servant alongside her older sister Ellen and younger brother William still in Sandford where Harry was an apprentice butcher from 1873. By 1881 she has progressed from general servant to cook and is now working in Exeter.
I have identified that Arthur Marmaduke Shepard served with the Army and a very distant relative William Peniston may also have served. It is only very recently that I discovered that my great grandfather's nephew lost his life in the second battle of Passchendaele. His story and that of his parents and siblings follows...
William Loosemore 1850 - 1893 (great great uncle)
One of my great grandfather Harry’s older brothers William Loosemore was born on 24th December 1850 in Crediton. We have already seen him the census records for 1851, 1861 and 1871. In 1881 when Harry has left the family home, completed his apprenticeship and is now living in Lambeth, William is still living with his father George and step-mother Emma in Dean Street Crediton together with the children still remaining at home.
Investigations into the marriage of William produced two possibilities, either that he married Sarah Hine in 1876 or Sarah Howard in 1882
The research done by Vic and Ronald Loosemore has settled on Sarah Hine although as she is from Honiton and this is 25 miles away from Crediton I have discounted her. There are two William Loosemores who could be the husband of Sarah Hine, our relative born in Crediton, and the other born in Rackenford on 15th July 1850. Unfortunately both of their fathers are called George, one born in Witheridge the other in Rackenford. This means we do not have an immediately obvious ancestry. Pursuit of the census records for both families have various indications which make my presumption the more likely.
Sarah Howard was born in Crediton, worked in Sandford and Exeter, all within 10 miles of Crediton. In view of this I believe she is the most likely candidate and so I have concentrated on her history. The discovery of the 1891 census record indicates that William’s wife Sarah was born in Morchard Bishop which confirms her identity.
William Loosemore married Sarah Howard in Crediton during the first half of 1882. Sarah Howard was born in Crediton in 1855. She gives her birthplace in the census as Morchard Bishop 8 miles north west of Crediton. In 1861 and 1871 she is living in Sandford with her father John, mother Mary and her brother and two sisters. By 1871 she is working as a servant alongside her older sister Ellen and younger brother William still in Sandford where Harry was an apprentice butcher from 1873. By 1881 she has progressed from general servant to cook and is now working in Exeter.
I have located an entry in the Register of Deaths for a William Loosemore who died aged 42 in Crediton in the last Quarter of 1893.
In 1901 Sarah Loosemore now a widow is again in service as a cook domestic in Crediton. Her children who would by this time have been 17, 15 and 11 are not with her.
In 1901 Sarah Loosemore now a widow is again in service as a cook domestic in Crediton. Her children who would by this time have been 17, 15 and 11 are not with her.
Frank is working as a Gardener at Levets Court Crediton. Ella is working as a Housemaid at Fordton Lodge, Crediton although she has been recorded as Ellen. His youngest sister Rose is recorded as one of 16
scholars in the Erskine Orphanage in
Babbacombe and is shown as an orphan. The Erskine Home for Orphan Girls School
in Babbacombe was in existence from 1896 until 1921.
In 1911 Sarah Loosemore is working as a servant for Margaret Beatson in Dawlish. Is there a logical link between the orphanage in Babbacombe and the appearance of Sarah in Dawlish? Ella has left Crediton and is working as a Housemaid in The
Lodge at Marlborough College Wiltshire. Rose has left the
orphanage and is working as a Servant in Exeter. Frank is still gardening in 1911 but had move well away from
South Molton. We discover him in Durham… He is shown as the head of a household
of seven gardeners from all over the country (Lincolnshire, Dorset, Yorkshire,
Cheshire, Oxford and Devon) so he seems to be making his way in the world.
Sarah Loosemore appears to have died in Crediton during 1916 recorded as age 62
We now come to the sad story of Frank after 1911….
Although by the start of the Great War, Frank is living in the northeast of England clearly his allegiances to Crediton are shown by the fact that at some point he enlisted into the Devonshire Regiment. There are no records in existence which show when he enlisted as his service record appears to be among the 60 per cent destroyed during the Second World War.
If he was not a volunteer then he would have entered the war later rather than sooner.
1914-1915
These were the years of the Volunteer Army. In August 1914 the Government called for an extra 100,000 volunteer soldiers to come forward. They achieved 750,999 by the end of September and by January 1915 more than a million had joined the Armed Forces voluntarily. By Mid 1915 volunteer numbers were falling fast and the National Registration Act was created. This was a list of all the men fit for military service who were still available.
1916-1918
Conscription was introduced in January 1916, targeting single men aged 18-41. Within a few months conscription was rolled out to married men.
It is therefore probable that Frank carried on in civilian life until some time in 1916. There are no records of any Loosemore children being born during 1914-1916 in the Teesside area who could be attributed to Frank and Mary. This of course does not prove one way or the other as to when Frank enlisted.
The only thing we do know for certain is that he was serving with the Devonshires on the Ypres Salient during 1917 as part of the 9th (Service) Battalion which was formed at Exeter on 15 September 1914 and attached as Divisional Troops to 20th (Light) Division in April 1915.
In February Gill and I visited the battlefields of Flanders and the Military Cemeteries including Tyne Cot.
We now come to the sad story of Frank after 1911….
Although by the start of the Great War, Frank is living in the northeast of England clearly his allegiances to Crediton are shown by the fact that at some point he enlisted into the Devonshire Regiment. There are no records in existence which show when he enlisted as his service record appears to be among the 60 per cent destroyed during the Second World War.
If he was not a volunteer then he would have entered the war later rather than sooner.
1914-1915
These were the years of the Volunteer Army. In August 1914 the Government called for an extra 100,000 volunteer soldiers to come forward. They achieved 750,999 by the end of September and by January 1915 more than a million had joined the Armed Forces voluntarily. By Mid 1915 volunteer numbers were falling fast and the National Registration Act was created. This was a list of all the men fit for military service who were still available.
1916-1918
Conscription was introduced in January 1916, targeting single men aged 18-41. Within a few months conscription was rolled out to married men.
It is therefore probable that Frank carried on in civilian life until some time in 1916. There are no records of any Loosemore children being born during 1914-1916 in the Teesside area who could be attributed to Frank and Mary. This of course does not prove one way or the other as to when Frank enlisted.
The only thing we do know for certain is that he was serving with the Devonshires on the Ypres Salient during 1917 as part of the 9th (Service) Battalion which was formed at Exeter on 15 September 1914 and attached as Divisional Troops to 20th (Light) Division in April 1915.
In February Gill and I visited the battlefields of Flanders and the Military Cemeteries including Tyne Cot.
There is no gravestone for Frank Loosemore. He is one of the thousands killed and misplaced during this horrific war but I did locate his name on the back wall of the Cemetery.
It is possible that his is one of the stones marked to An Unknown Soldier but more likely he lies where he fell in the fields of Flanders. All that is known is that he was part of the Second Battle of Passchendaele 26th October to 10th November and his entry with the War Graves Commission gives his date of death as 26th October.
The following account details what happened in the battle which effectively marked the end of the Flanders Campaign.
The Second Battle of Passchendaele,
26 October - 10 November 1917
The early winter fighting at ‘Third Ypres’ took place in dreadful and demoralising conditions, perhaps the worst in the war, which sapped the physical strength and spirits of all combatants. Yet, despite the obvious failures of 12 October, Haig intended to continue the campaign. Currie's Canadian Corps was called in to replace the depleted and battle-weary II Anzac Corps and spearhead the next thrusts - a series of phased actions designed to gain Passchendaele and the ridge northwards to Westroosebeke as a secure winter position.
Hoping for drier weather Haig temporarily suspended operations on 13 October. Acknowledging the disastrously inadequate preparations for ‘First Passchendaele’, and reflecting Currie’s insistence on thorough arrangements, huge efforts were made mid-month in repairing communications and the forward movement of guns. Preliminary barrages concentrated on destroying barbed-wire and pillboxes on the Wallemolen spur and Bellevue.
The first assault on 26 October, in pouring rain, saw the Canadians push beyond the wire entanglements on either side the flooded Ravebeek and advance near 500 yards, though the supporting flank operations by British infantry divisions proved costly failures. Re-supplied in the subsequent days of better weather the Canadians were ready to renew their attack on 30 October, when, following a devastating barrage, they reached the outskirts of Passchendaele and were poised to seize the village. After extensive British bombardments, the 2nd Canadian Division overran the hamlet on the morning of 6 November, gaining all its objectives but losing many men in savage close-quarter fighting. At Haig’s request a slight northwards advance of the line was made early on 10 November; this modest gain, made in a rainstorm by exhausted infantry effectively marked the end of the Flanders campaign, which was officially closed down on 20 November 1917.
26 October - 10 November 1917
The early winter fighting at ‘Third Ypres’ took place in dreadful and demoralising conditions, perhaps the worst in the war, which sapped the physical strength and spirits of all combatants. Yet, despite the obvious failures of 12 October, Haig intended to continue the campaign. Currie's Canadian Corps was called in to replace the depleted and battle-weary II Anzac Corps and spearhead the next thrusts - a series of phased actions designed to gain Passchendaele and the ridge northwards to Westroosebeke as a secure winter position.
Hoping for drier weather Haig temporarily suspended operations on 13 October. Acknowledging the disastrously inadequate preparations for ‘First Passchendaele’, and reflecting Currie’s insistence on thorough arrangements, huge efforts were made mid-month in repairing communications and the forward movement of guns. Preliminary barrages concentrated on destroying barbed-wire and pillboxes on the Wallemolen spur and Bellevue.
The first assault on 26 October, in pouring rain, saw the Canadians push beyond the wire entanglements on either side the flooded Ravebeek and advance near 500 yards, though the supporting flank operations by British infantry divisions proved costly failures. Re-supplied in the subsequent days of better weather the Canadians were ready to renew their attack on 30 October, when, following a devastating barrage, they reached the outskirts of Passchendaele and were poised to seize the village. After extensive British bombardments, the 2nd Canadian Division overran the hamlet on the morning of 6 November, gaining all its objectives but losing many men in savage close-quarter fighting. At Haig’s request a slight northwards advance of the line was made early on 10 November; this modest gain, made in a rainstorm by exhausted infantry effectively marked the end of the Flanders campaign, which was officially closed down on 20 November 1917.
Mary E Loosemore did not remarry and died in Weardale aged 44 in the early part of 1934
Frank’s two sisters married.
Ella to Arthur G Ayre in 1913 and Rose to George Fursman in 1916.
They died in 1963 and 1954 respectively. I do not have details of any children they may have had.
Frank’s two sisters married.
Ella to Arthur G Ayre in 1913 and Rose to George Fursman in 1916.
They died in 1963 and 1954 respectively. I do not have details of any children they may have had.