LOMAS, ERNEST
Photo with kind permission from the Uttoxeter Advertiser
|
Sources: |
||||
CWGC |
SDGW |
Uttoxeter Advertiser |
Other |
||
Parents |
Thomas and Emma Lomas |
Yes |
|
|
|
Mrs. Lomas |
|
|
7c, 7d |
3 |
|
Where born |
Uttoxeter |
|
Yes |
|
3 |
When born |
About 1895 |
|
|
|
6 |
Address |
Mother: New Street during the war. |
|
|
7b, 7c, 7d |
3 |
Parents: 6, Charlton Terrace, The Wharf, Uttoxeter |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Spouse |
|
|
|
|
|
Children |
|
|
|
|
|
Employment Before Joining up |
Fitter at the Leighton Ironworks |
|
|
7d |
|
Messrs Bamfords Leighton Ironworks, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
|
|
|
3 |
|
Leighton Ironworks |
|
|
7a |
|
|
Where enlisted |
Uttoxeter |
|
Yes |
|
3 |
Regiment |
North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales’s) |
Yes |
Yes |
7d, 7g |
2, 3 |
Unit |
1st Bn. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
2, 3 |
Rank |
Private |
Yes |
Yes |
7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 7f, 7g |
2, 3 |
Service Number |
40007 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
2, 3 |
Date of Death |
11 January 1917 |
Yes |
Yes |
7f, 7g |
1, 2, 3 |
Age at time of death |
22 |
Yes |
|
7d |
|
Where Killed or died |
Pas de Calais |
|
|
|
|
Hulluch |
|
|
7g |
1 |
|
France/Flanders |
|
Yes |
|
|
|
How he died |
Killed in Action |
|
Yes |
7d, 7e, 7f |
3 |
Killed in Action as a result of trench-mortar fire |
|
|
|
1 |
|
Location of Grave or Memorial |
Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe - Grave I. L. 13. |
Yes |
|
|
|
Uttoxeter Town War Memorial |
|
|
|
3 |
|
Awards |
|
|
|
|
|
Ernest was one of Uttoxeter's Territorials at the outbreak of war.
He went out with his regiment at the end of August 1914, soon after the outbreak of war3, 7a. This makes him one of the revered band of men known as the “Old Contemptibles”.
He was wounded in the shoulder on 13th October 1915 in the charge on the Hohenzollern Redoubt3, 7c, 7d and then on the 12th of July 1916 it was reported in the Uttoxeter Advertiser3 that he had been wounded again – this time he had received a bayonet thrust through his hand7c, 7d.
Ernest was killed in action on 11th January 1917 in the course of his battalion moving into the trenches to relieve the West Kent Regiment. The War Diary for his Regiment, the 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, recorded his death in the following way.
11 Jan [1917] Relieve 8th R[egiment] W[est] Kents in HULLUCH Section, RIGHT Subsection. Relief complete about midday. Some trench mortar activity in NEW CUT and SUPPORT LINE. Casualties 1.O.R. [1 Other Rank] killed, 3 wounded.
The “1.O.R.” was Ernest.
In his obituary, the Uttoxeter Advertiser7d quoted from a letter which the officer commanding his unit had written to his mother:
"I am writing to you to tell you the circumstances of your son’s death, and to tell you how much he will be missed. He joined my Lewis Gun detachment in September (1916), and has been with them since then. He was very quick and intelligent, and at the time of his death was acting No. 2 in his gun team, which is the second highest position. I had him for some time as my orderly, and I can assure you that he always did his work excellently, and will be greatly missed both by his fellow gunners and by myself. He was killed in the front line trenches by a German trench mortar bomb, and mercifully could have suffered no pain. It was the sort of death he would have liked - a soldier's death and a swift one.".
The roll of honour says that he died in Hulluch. His brother, Thomas, also served3, and lost a leg as a result of severe wounds received during the fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt7b, 7, 7dc. He survived the war.
At some time after his death his parents moved to 6, Charlton Terrace, The Wharf, Uttoxeter, because that is the address which is stated in his CWGC record.
This memorial notice was posted in the Uttoxeter Advertiser in January 19167f to mark the first anniversary of is death |
|
This notice was posted in January 19197g to mark the second anniversary of his death |
|