(South Canterbury Museum 2012/144.08)The front face of a postcard from Harold (Harry) to "Lizzie" from Albany, Australia, after embarking fro the front and while on his way from New Zealand to Egypt. (Courtesy of D Loomes )The verso of a postcard from Harold (Harry) to "Lizzie" from Albany, Australia, after embarking fro the front and while on his way from New Zealand to Egypt. (Courtesy of D Loomes )Harold Loomes appears to be indicated as positioned second from left. (South Canterbury Museum 2012/144.11)Harold, pictured fifth from right, served as a dispatch rider during the First World War. (South Canterbury Museum 2012/144.10)Those pictured include Harry Loomes (rear row, right end) and Andy Hughes (rear row, third from right). Loomes and Hughes developed a friendship that lasted a lifetime and Hughes (who managed Austin Co, in Christchurch) often joined Loomes fishing at the Opihi and other local rivers. (South Canterbury Museum 2015/029.02)Collected by Harry Loomes, a despatch rider in the campaign, who had to navigate this kind of terrain. (South Canterbury Museum 2015/029.01)A postcard featuring the portrait of "some of the people I stayed with when we were in Flanders". Harold was billeted with this family which treated him "as a brother". (Courtesy of D Loomes )The verso of a postcard featuring the portrait of "some of the people I stayed with when we were in Flanders". Harold was billeted with this family which treated him "as a brother". Two of them (marked by arrows) were cousins of the others, and were severely wounded in the German advance in the area. Their mother was killed at the same time. (Courtesy of D Loomes )(South Canterbury Museum 2012/144.09)
Aliases
First Rank
Sapper
Last Rank
Corporal
Birth
Date
15/10/1891
Place of Birth
Fairlie, New Zealand
Enlistment Information
Date
2 August 1915
Age
23
Address at Enlistment
80 Grey Road, Timaru, New Zealand
Occupation
Motor Mechanic
Previous Military Experience
2nd (South Canterbury) Regiment
Marital Status
Single
Next of Kin
Mrs Rose Loomes (mother), Eversley, Fairlie
Religion
Church of England
Medical Information
5 foot 10 inches tall, fair complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, 144 lbs in weight, chest 34 1/2 inches, good teeth
Military Service
Served with
NZ Armed Forces
Served in
Army
Military District
Embarkation Information
Body on Embarkation
6th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship
Divisional Signals
Date
14 Aug 1915
Transport
Willochra or Tofua
Embarked From
Wellington, New Zealand
Destination
Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With
Divisional Signals
Military Awards
Campaigns
Egyptian, Gallipoli, & Western Europe
Service Medals
1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Military Awards
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date
Discharge
Date
2 May 1919
Reason
End of war
Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses
Post-war Occupations
Motor mechanic
Death
Date
2 January 1981
Age
89
Place of Death
Timaru, New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery
Salisbury Park Crematorium, Timaru
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials
Biographical Notes
Harold, eighth son of Charles and Rose (nee Morgan) Loomes, was born at Fairlie on 15 October 1891. Working for Adams Ltd in Timaru as a motor mechanic, he enlisted there on 2 August 1915, having had previous military experience with the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment. His last address was 80 Grey Road, Timaru. He was described as being Anglican, aged 23, 5 foot 10 inches tall, of fair complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, 144 lbs in weight, chest measuring 34½ inches, good teeth, and single. His mother, Mrs C.I. Loomes, of Eversley, Fairlie, was listed as his next of kin. Harold embarked from Wellington very soon after entering camp on 14 August, aboard SS Willochra or Tofua, with the 6th Reinforcements, Divisional Signals, bound for Suez, Egypt. After service in Egypt, he joined his unit at Gallipoli on 26 October 1915. Later, on 7 April 1916 he embarking for France where he was to serve as a despatch rider with Divisional Signals. It is thought that during this period, for a short time, he had held the European land speed record on a motor cycle, before it was broken two weeks later. Loomes' leather helmet, wages books, and photographs are held by the South Canterbruy Museum. Corporal Loomes returned to NZ aboard SS Hororata on 15 March 1919, and was discharged 2 May 1919. For his war service he received the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. In 1919 he married Eliza Christina Seyb. After her death, in 1936, he remarried to Ethel Newman. Harold continued with his civil employment as a mechanic and worked for Burnett’s, where he drove a daily service from Timaru to Mt Cook, and later worked for Hervey Motors until his retirement. Being a keen fisherman, he was also a council member on the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. Harold died in Timaru on 2 January 1981, and was cremated at Salisbury Park Crematorium, Timaru.
Sources
Auckland Museum Cenotaph database (June 2015); Archives NZ (Personal File); NZSG Index V5; NZSG Burial Locator V2; phone conversation with son David Loomes (Craighead St Timaru) April 2015
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