Loosemores and Auchterlonies at War:

Biography of CSM William Alfred (Fred) Loosemore

25th Battalion AIF

Born at Inglewood Hill, Gympie, Fred had lots of people around him as he was born into the middle of a large Loosemore family with five older and two younger brothers and six sisters. His place on the family tree can be seen at the following link to my family tree. Fred's mother Ann's brother Archibald Auchterlonie lived nearby with his family at Inglewood Hill, and the cousins played together as children.

Fred went to One Mile State School, Gympie, followed by International Correspondence School. He had grey eyes, brown hair, a fresh complexion and a birth mark on his right hip. Fred served in Junior Cadets and was a Junior Assistant to an Electrical Engineer before the war.

He served with the 25th Battalion AIF, in the First World War. Fred enlisted on 15 January 1915, with a weight of 135 lbs (61 kg), height 5 feet 11 1/4 inches (181 cm) and a 'chest measurement' of 31 and 34 inches (79 and 86 cm). He was appointed to C Company with his cousin Archibald Vivian (Viv) Auchterlonie as Lieutenant of C Company.

Arriving at the fighting on Gallipoli peninsula on 4 September 1915, Fred was promoted to Sergeant three days later. The family has kept copies of two letters he wrote to his brother Harold Loosemore in Queeensland. A transcript can be seen at this link.

His cousin Viv was shot by a sniper on 20 October 1915. Fred became Acting Company Sergeant Major on 27 November, when Sergeant Teitzel was evacuated (injured?) from Gallipoli. Some letters to his brother Harold (Had) have survived. He also took photos at Gallipoli, but it is not known what happened to them. His other cousin, Sergeant Bertrand Innes (Bert) Auchterlonie, who was in 15 Battalion, had been shot and killed the assault on Hill 971 on 8 August 1915.

Fred left Gallipoli with his company, travelling on the troop ship H.M.T. Hororata, arriving at Alexandria on 9 January 1916. He was promoted to Warrant Officer 2nd Class on 2 March when Sergeant Teitzel was 'placed on the supernumery list' and became Company Sergeant Major. (Lieutenant Teitzel was Killed In Action at Poziers.)

Fred embarked for the Western Front on 14 March 1916, spending five days on H.M.T. Minneapolis before disembarking at Marseilles. C Company, 25 Battalion AIF, then went to the Front.

Enduring heavy fighting at Poziers during the Battle of the Somme, Fred was reported Missing on 5 August 1916. A court inquiry on 25 July 1917 confirmed that he was Killed In Action on 5 August 1916. Private A. Deal saw him killed outright by a shell in "no mans land". (The Army had no recorded will.) Fred was mentioned in despatches, "for courage shown during the attack on Poziers Ridge on the night of 4/5 August 1916, by organising the men and by his coolness encouraged them".

Fred has no known grave, but his name is recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial to the Missing in France (pictured above), and on memorials in Queensland and Canberra. Fred was entitled to the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and ANZAC Commemorative Medallion. His mother Anne received the first three. She received his personal effects, including a camera, in 1918.

Two of Fred's brothers also served in the AIF. John (Jack) Loosemore enlisted at age 40 as a Sapper in the 1st Tunnelling Company AIF. His mining skills would have been useful for tunnelling under the trenches. But soon after his arrival at the front, he was gassed and later invalided, returning to Australia in 1917.

Thomas (Tom) Loosemore went to the First World War as a sapper with the 1st Signal Squadron at Eqypt, enlisting on 5 Jan 1916 at 29 years six months.

Fred's third Auchterlonie cousin, Lieutenant Cecil Arthur (Cec) Auchterlonie, was also in C Company and survied until near the end of the war as Company Commander. On 10 August 1918, he was killed in action and was decorated with an MC and bar.

The death of Bert, Viv and Cec Auchterlonie and Fred Loosemore was devistating for the families at Inglewood Hill. Fred and his three Auchterlonie cousins are listed on the Gympie War Memorial Gates.

Sources
(1) Qld Birth Index
(2) Australian Archives War service record
(3) Office of Australian War Graves
(4) Doreen Belcher (info from Harold Loosemore, 1970)
(5) David Aspinall (Auchterlonie family researcher)