I’ve found an intriguing case in my research into Portsmouth’s 1939-1945 war dead.
Sergeant Louis Hogg, 24 and from Stamshaw, was serving with 59 Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery when he was killed in France on 10 July 1944. This was just after Operation Charnwood, the capture of Caen. He is buried in Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery, Normandy.
59 Anti-Tank Regiment, a Hampshire based Territorial Army unit, was attached to 43rd (Wessex) Division during the battle of Normandy in 1944. Its four batteries would have been dispersed throughout the Brigade to provide Anti-Tank defence against the German Tiger and Panther Tanks, which were proving so deadly to the Allies.
What intrigues me most of all are the details for Sergeant Hogg on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website. His parents are described as Mr and Mrs LOADER.
How come a Sergeant Hogg’s parents were a Mr and Mrs Loader? It might not be militarily important, but as a historian with an interest in both family history and military history, and the social side of war, it would be interesting to know his story.
Anyone out there got any ideas?
