Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War ‘Western Front’ V.C., D.C.M. group of five awarded to Sergeant A. Loosemore, 8th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment), for his great gallantry south of Langemarck on 11 August 1917: after two members of his section had been killed beside him, he fought with every means at his disposal - machine-gun, bomb, rifle and revolver - to thwart a determined counterattack which appeared to many as though it must succeed, and accounted for about twenty of the enemy as well as a number of snipers, before returning to his original post with a wounded comrade under heavy fire.

Remarkably, Loosemore’s V.C.-winning exploits came the day after he was reputed to have shot down with his Lewis gun a German fighter that was engaged in a ‘dog-fight’ with a British aircraft, this saving the British pilot’s life.

Subsequently awarded the D.C.M. for his gallantry with the 1st/4th Battalion at Zillebeke during a raid on 20 June 1918 - ‘a highly successful operation, 11 prisoners and one Machine Gun being captured and numerous casualties being inflicted on the enemy’ - Loosemore was severely wounded by machine gun fire at Villers-en-Cauchies on 11 October 1918, resulting in his left leg being amputated. He never fully recovered from his war wounds, and died as a result of tuberculosis in 1924

Victoria Cross, reverse of suspension bar engraved ‘No. 15805 Pte. A. Loosemore. 8th. Bn. West Riding R.’, reverse of Cross engraved ‘11. Aug. 1917.’; Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (15805 Sjt: A. Loosemore. V.C. 1/4 W. Rid: R.); 1914-15 Star (15805. Pte. A. Loosemore. W. Rid. R.); British War and Victory Medals (15805 Sjt. A. Loosemore. W. Rid. R.) recently re-mounted, but together with the original court-mounted riband bar, and housed in a contemporary Hunt & Roskell, London, case, traces of lacquer, light pitting and contact marks, nearly very fine and better (5) £180,000-£220,000

Sotheby’s, May 1969 (when sold by the recipient’s son).

32 men received both the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Conduct Medal during the Great War; of these, the vast majority (unlike Loosemore) received the D.C.M. prior to the V.C.; consequently Loosemore’s D.C.M. is just one of a handful to be named with the post-nominal letters ‘V.C.’

V.C. London Gazette 14 September 1917:
‘For most conspicuous bravery and initiative during the attack on a strongly-held enemy position. His platoon having been checked by heavy machine-gun fire, he crawled through partially cut wire, dragging his Lewis gun with him, and single-handed dealt with a strong party of the enemy, killing about twenty of them, and thus covering the consolidation of the position taken up by his platoon. Immediately afterwards his Lewis gun was blown up by bomb, and three enemy rushed for him, but he shot them all with his revolver.
Later he shot several enemy snipers, exposing himself to heavy fire each time. On returning to the original post he also brought back a wounded comrade under heavy fire at the risk of his own life. He displayed throughout an utter disregard of danger.’

D.C.M. London Gazette 3 October 1918:
‘When out with a fighting patrol he displayed conspicuous gallantry and powers of leadership when his officer was wounded and the platoon scattered by hostile bombs. He rallied the men and brought them back in order, with all the wounded, to our lines. On a subsequent occasion he handled his platoon with great skill and complete disregard of his own danger under heavy machine-gun fire, and it was owing to his determination and powers of leadership that the platoon eventually captured the enemy post which they were attacking.’

Arnold Loosemore was born in Sharrow, Sheffield, on 7 June 1896, the son of George Loosemore, a gardener at the Sheffield Central Cemetery, and his wife Selina, and the sixth of seven brothers, all of whom served during the Great War. Educated at Clifford School in Sheffield, he was employed as a farm-worker at Fulwood, Yorkshire when War was declared in 1914, and immediately volunteered. Turned down for enlistment owing to his frail physique, he took a job with a coal merchant in order to build up his strength, and successfully attested for the York and Lancaster Regiment on 2 January 1915. He transferred to the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) on 10 March 1915, and served with the 8th Battalion during the Great War in the Gallipoli theatre of War from 11 September 1915.

Departing Turkey in December 1915, Loosemore returned to England, before being posted to France, arriving on the Western Front on 3 July 1916 as a Lewis machine-gunner.

V.C. Action - Langemarck, 11 August 1917
On the night of 7 August 1917, the 8th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s - as part of the 32nd Brigade - entered the front line north of Ypres at Steenbeek, just south of Langemarck. Their route to the front, via Poperinghe, Elverdinghe, and Flamatinghe, had provided a harsh initiation with torrential rain and enemy shells marking their every step. After four days ‘holding the line’, on 11 August 1917 the battalion was tasked to mount an attack on German Positions on the east bank of the Steenbeek, in preparation for the next British attack on Langemarck. The battalion’s contribution was a minor one, but was memorable for the exceptional courage and great gallantry displayed by a 21 year-old private soldier.

Loosemore, a Lewis gunner in No. 12 Platoon, was one of fifty men from “Y” Company assigned the task of capturing a German blockhouse known, appropriately, as Wellington Farm. The attack went in at daybreak, after a night spent sheltering in shell-holes, up to their knees in mud. Company Sergeant Major Miles described it thus: ‘We advanced on the farm in extended order, but went too far ahead and had to retire to keep in touch with the company on our left and right. It was then that a very brave act was committed by a Lewis gunner of ours named Loosemore; he certainly saved a very awkward situation. He stayed in a shell-hole and covered our retirement with a Lewis gun. Well, this gun got put out to action, but Loosemore hung on and kept the advancing Germans at bay with this revolver. When that gave out, he threw his disabled gun at the remaining Germans and came back to where we had consolidated, a truly brave act.’

Miles reported the young soldier's gallantry to his company officer, Second Lieutenant E. Wood, who gathered eyewitness statements to support the V.C. recommendation. Included among them was the testimony of Sergeant Ridgeway, another member of 12 Platoon, who described how Loosemore held off ‘a great number’ of the enemy, enabling the company to consolidate ‘in front of the Boche wire’:
‘He displayed great courage when attacked by a party of German bombers who put his Lewis gun out of action. He then threw two German stick bombs at the said bombers and using his revolver, he killed four Germans and when he came in to where our company had dug in under heavy machine [gun] fire, he brought out a wounded comrade. During the day, while we still held to our new position, he sniped off five of the enemy.’

Writing to Loosemore’s parents, Second Lieutenant Wood described their son as the ‘bravest lad I have ever seen’ and said ‘his magnificent gallantry undoubtedly saved the whole of the company.’ Such claims were not exaggerated. After two members of this section had been killed beside him, Loosemore had fought with every means at his disposal - machine-gun, bomb, rifle and revolver - to thwart a determined counterattack which appeared to many as though it must succeed. He accounted for about twenty of the enemy as well as a number of snipers. Almost as miraculous as his Herculean feat of arms was the fact that he emerged unscathed.

Remarkably, his gallantry in being awarded the Victoria Cross was not the only noteworthy action that he performed. In a letter written to the recipient’s son many decades later by a Sergeant in the same company (and caveatted by the fact that his memory may be playing false), he recalls how: ‘On the evening prior to this [Loosemore’s V.C.-winning] action, we were in dugouts on the canal bank at Ypres, and a “dog-fight” between British and German aircraft was taking place overhead. Suddenly, two aircraft dived towards the treetops. One was a German fighter on the tail of one of our aircraft. Your father (who was a Lewis gunner at the time) who had just completed cleaning his gun jammed a magazine on his gun, trained it on the German, and brought him down. The pilot of the British aircraft came up by car sometime later that evening, located your father, and thanked him for saving him from sure disaster. Later that same evening we moved up the line to make the attack. I can assure you that it was a bloody and muddy experience.’ (letter from ex-Sergeant C. Bawley, M.M., refers)

Promoted Corporal on 17 August 1917, Loosemore’s Victoria Cross was announced on 14 September 1917, and he was presented with the V.C. riband by the General Officer Commanding at Poperinghe on 23 September. Returning to the U.K. on leave in December of that year, he was presented with his Victoria Cross by H.M. the King at Buckingham Palace on 2 January 1918, and the following day attended a Civic Reception in his home city of Sheffield, where over 2,000 people cheered him from the steps of the Town Hall.

The 8th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s was disbanded in April 1918, and Loosemore, preferring to stay with his Regiment rather than accepting a billet at home, was posted to the 1st/4th Battalion on 1 May 1918. He was promoted Sergeant on 6 May, and after a month spent training new drafts, the Battalion returned to the Western Front in mid-June 1918, taking over a stretch of the line in the Zillebeke sector. Within days, Loosemore was to distinguish himself again.

D.C.M. Action - Zillebeke, 19-20 June 1918
On the night of 19-20 June 1918, 1st/4th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s was tasked with a raid on the enemy positions at Zillebeke. The Battalion War Diary states: ‘The Battalion carried out an extensive raid on the enemy positions opposite the Ypres right sub-sector. The whole of “A” and “B” Companies and 2 Platoons of each from “C” and “D” Companies took part in the operation. The operation was highly successful, 11 prisoners and one Machine Gun being captured and numerous casualties being inflicted on the enemy with only light casualties ourselves.’

The battalion history gives rather more details, and concludes: ‘The raid was a great success. Eleven prisoners and a light machine gun had been captured, and considerable casualties had undoubtedly been inflicted on the enemy. The total casualties of the battalion were 3 other ranks killed, one officer and 16 other ranks wounded, and one other rank missing. This was extremely light, considering that three quarters of the battalion had spent one and a half hours in the enemy’s lines. But by far the most satisfactory result of the raid was its effect on morale. Many of the officers and men who took part had only been with the battalion a very short time, and a large number of the latter were very young and had seen no fighting before. The old soldier has learned to take things as they come, but success or failure have great effect on inexperienced and young soldiers. So it was with this raid. They went into action boys; they came out almost veterans. For their services in connection with this raid, Second Lieutenants Huggard and Newman were each awarded the Military Cross; Sergeants Loosemore, V.C., Wilson, and Field received Distinguished Conduct Medals; and sixteen other ranks gained the Military Medal.’

Wounded - Villers-en-Cauchies, 11 October 1918 - and War’s End
The 1st/4th Battalion remained in the Ypres section until the end of August when the unit was ordered south. Weeks of inactivity came to an end on 11 October 1918, exactly one month before the Armistice, when the Battalion was assigned the task of capturing a ridge in front of Villers-en-Cauchies. So fast was their advance that the battalion broke through their own artillery barrage, and the enemy retaliated by raking the crest with machine-gun fire. Amongst those wounded was Sergeant Loosemore, severely wounded by machine gun fire to both legs. The battalion history states: ‘Sergeant A. Loosemore, V.C., D.C.M., of A Company, went down, shot through both legs and the battalion lost a magnificent leader who was liked by everyone and almost worshipped by the men of his platoon.’

Loosemore was still undergoing treatment when the Armistice was signed, resulting in his left leg being amputated, and he was finally discharged on 13 May 1920. The following month he attended the Garden Party hosted by H.M. the King at Buckingham Palace on 26 June 1920 for recipients of the Victoria Cross. Setting up as a poultry farmer, he married Miss Amy Morton on 24 August 1920, and they had one son, also called Arnold. However, Loosemore never fully recovered from his war wounds, and died as a result of tuberculosis in Sheffield on 10 April 1924. He was 27 years of age. He was buried with full military honours, his funeral being organised by Sheffield City Council, with crowds lining the procession route from Hillsborough to Ecclesall, and the funeral service being conducted by the Lord Bishop of Sheffield. His widow was denied a War Widows pension from the Government on the grounds that he was no longer a serving soldier at the time of their marriage, and, as her husband’s V.C. annuity ceased upon his death, she and their son were left penniless. Shamefully, she was then sent the bill for her husband’s funeral procession by the City Council. 60 years later the City Council belatedly attempted to right this wrong, by naming a new residential road ‘Loosemore Drive’ in his honour.

Sold with a fine-quality leather-bound memorial volume to the recipient, containing numerous photographic images, photographs of official letters, newspaper cuttings, and other documents; and copied research.