5962472, Sapper, William Henry LOMAS
Aged 19


585 Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
Killed in Action on Thursday 7th January 1943 (missing at sea)

Born on 22nd February 1923 [Newmarket 3b:738], the son of Charles and Florence LOMAS (née COLE). In the 1939 register, an errand boy for hardware store, he was at 49 Endsleigh Terrace, Exning Road, Newmarket with his father Charles [13-12-1895] a racehorse stallion man; mother Florence [16-2-1896, sister Myrtle [10-7-1927 (later Mrs WAKE)and brother Gordon F.[9-10-1930]. There are 3 closed records

Before mobilisation he lived in Hertfordshire.


He appears to have been aboard the SS Benalbanach which was torpedoed by aircraft when carrying troops and equipment to Tunisia
333 service personnel died. The majority of the Infantry and Royal Artillery men are on the Mdejez-el Bab Memorial (110 names for 7-1-1943), all the support and Corps troops (223 names for 7-1-1943) are on the Brookwood Memorial




William is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial 1939-1945 Ref- panel 6 column 2
and also commemorated on the Exning Road plaque, now kept in the Exning Road Working Mens Club,

click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details


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