Can you help find Jack?

John Alexander Loudon, known to his family and friends as Jack, was born in 1893 in the rural township of Coonabarabran, New South Wales. He was the eldest son of Alexander (Alick) Loudon (1853–1928) and Eliza Victoria Anne Mills (1874–1961), and one of at least seven children in a large Presbyterian family.
Children of Alick and Eliza:

Jack grew up in a close-knit community in the shadow of the Warrumbungle Ranges, where his father was a long-time resident and well known in the district. One glimpse into the family’s early life was reported in 1905 when three of the Loudon children were injured while playing with a flask of gunpowder. One of the older girls was badly burned, while the others – possibly including John – escaped with minor injuries and shock

Source: Australian Town and Country Journal (1905, March 22), p.7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71500358

Jack trained and worked as a carpenter, a trade requiring both skill and physical endurance.Like many young men of the time, he was drawn to the call of service during the First World War. He enlisted alongside a group of close friends — Frank Curran, 2626 Percy Nelson, and 3508 George Robert Douglas — who all left Coonabarabran together to enlist at Liverpool Camp in New South Wales.

Source: Freeman's Journal (1915, September 23), p.13. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115595850

Jack joined the Australian Imperial Force in a wave of local enlistments that reflected the small town’s deep sense of duty and pride. But for Jack, as for others who had enlisted with friends, the war had already taken a toll. Frank Curran, his 19-year-old companion from home, died of meningitis during training at Liverpool Camp before ever leaving Australia. After initial training, Jack was assigned to the 11th Reinforcements of the 4th Battalion and embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on 13 October 1915.

He arrived in Egypt where the AIF underwent a major restructure following the Gallipoli campaign. Like many others, Jack was transferred to help form new units for the expanding army. He became part of the newly raised 53rd Battalion, composed of seasoned Gallipoli veterans and fresh reinforcements like himself. His service record during this period is typical of many reinforcements — long weeks of desert training, acclimatisation, and preparation for deployment to the Western Front. In June 1916, the 53rd Battalion sailed for France, arriving in Marseille before moving north to the trenches of northern France.

Within just a few short weeks, he would be thrown into the horrors of the Western Front’s bloodiest day — the Battle of Fromelles.

The 53rd Battalion arrived in France in late June 1916, with Jack and his mates disembarking at Marseilles on 28 June. Within weeks, they were sent to the front lines near the small village of Fromelles in northern France. Their first major engagement on the Western Front would become one of the most catastrophic days in Australian military history. On 19 July, heavy artillery bombardments from both sides began by 11.00 AM.

The 53rd’s main objective was to take the German trenches to the left of the heavily fortified Sugar Loaf salient, linking up with the 54th Battalion on their left and the 60th on their right. If the Sugar Loaf could not be captured, the Australians would face deadly enfilade fire from German machine guns.

At 5.43 PM, the 53rd began their assault in four waves. Half of A and B Companies led the first two waves, while C and D Companies followed in the third and fourth waves. The men advanced into No-Man’s-Land, lying down close to the German wire until 6.00 PM when they charged forward under intense artillery and machine gun fire. They quickly captured the German first and second line trenches. Some groups pushed 200 yards further to hold back enemy bombers counterattacking their front and right flank. The fighting was brutal.

Corporal J.T. James later reported:

Jack Loudon’s Fate

Jack was last seen during this chaotic battle. On the morning of 20 July 1916, he was wounded in No Man’s Land. Fellow soldier Private Robert S. Hyslop, also of the 53rd Battalion, gave a first-hand account of what happened:

No further trace of Jack was found. He was first listed as missing, and a year later officially declared killed in action as of 19 July 1916. His body was never recovered, and he has no known grave. Within 20 minutes of the commencement of the battle, all of the 53rd’s company commanders, their seconds-in-command, and six junior officers were casualties. As night fell, the Germans launched fierce counterattacks. By dawn, with their right flank exposed, the Battalion was ordered to withdraw. The retreat was perilous, many men being cut down by German fire as they crossed No-Man’s-Land.

The War Diary recorded:

By the end of the battle, the 53rd Battalion had suffered appalling losses. Of the 990 men who had landed in France only weeks before, 36 were killed, 353 wounded, and 236 missing in the immediate aftermath. Ultimately, 245 men were killed or died of wounds – 190 of them have no known grave.

For Jack and the men of the 53rd, Fromelles was a defining and devastating experience. The cost was not only felt on the battlefield but rippled through their families and communities for generations to come.

Following the disastrous Battle of Fromelles, Jack was initially listed as missing in action. His family endured months of uncertainty before receiving official confirmation more than a year later. On 24 September 1917, the Mudgee Guardian reported:

Private Jack Loudon has no known grave and is officially commemorated at the following sites:

Although his remains have never been identified, Jack is one of the hundreds still believed to lie in the vicinity of the battlefield at Pheasant Wood. He is remembered with honour not only for his bravery at Fromelles but also for the courage he showed in leaving behind his home and family, enlisting with childhood friends, and serving with dignity.

Of the four friends who left Coonabarabran together, only one would return home:

• Frank Curran died of meningitis during training at Liverpool Camp before embarkation. You can read more of his story here https://waytogoaustralia.com/2022/04/23/frank-died-on-his-way-to-war/
• Jack Loudon was killed in action at Fromelles on 19 July 1916 and has no known grave.
• George Douglas was killed in action on 27 October 1917 in Belgium and is buried at Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, Ypres.
• Percy Nelson was the only one of the group to survive and return home to Australia.
  

Jack’s death in France was a devastating blow to his family and his friends. His father, Alexander, died tragically in 1928 during a violent windstorm. While trying to escape a collapsing shed at his daughter Marion’s property in Coonabarabran, he was struck and fatally injured.

Source: Mudgee Guardian, 11 Oct 1928, p. 23. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156097374.

Jack’s mother, Eliza, outlived her husband by over three decades, passing away in 1961. Although Jack never returned home, his story remains part of the Loudon family’s memory — and of the Coonabarabran community that watched so many of its sons go off to war.

Jack Loudon was killed in action at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. His body was never recovered, and like so many others who died that night, he has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the V.C. Corner Memorial in France. He is one of the many soldiers who may still lie in the mass grave discovered at Pheasant Wood. Although DNA has been used to successfully identify over 250 of his comrades, Jack remains among the “missing”.

His body has not yet been identified, and no family DNA has yet been matched to his profile. Jack came from a large family in Coonabarabran, New South Wales. He had six siblings, and several of his sisters married and had descendants, if you have further information, please contact us.