TILLEY
with roots in Somerset, England
family
the
John Leopold (Jack) Look
Jack was born on 13 November 1886 in Ditcheat, Somerset, the youngest of 11 children. His parents George and Anna (nee Corpe) Look were farmers and lived in Alhampton Court, Ditcheat. He was educated at St John’s College, Frome, and Kingston School in Yeovil. His sister Ada Margaret married Edward Tom (Ted) Tilley in 1908 and another sister, Edith Anna, married Arthur Herbert (Herb) Tilley in 1898.
On 21 September 1914 Jack enlisted and he served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from June 1916. He served as 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, as well as the 5th (Territorial) Battalion Devonshire Regiment, before returning to England in September 1917. After a period of training at Oxford, he was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant, Gloucestershire Regiment in March 1918. Jack went back to France the following August fighting with 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, attached 5th Battalion Devonshire Regiment. He was wounded in action at Arras on 30 August and died at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station on 1 September 1918, aged 31, just two months short of the war’s conclusion.
Jack is buried [Grave 9, of Row E, Plot 6] at Bagneux British Cemetery, Gezaincourt, a village situated just over a mile south-west of the town of Doullens in the Somme. There are 1,374 servicemen of World War I buried or commemorated in the cemetery which was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
John Leopold Look was baptised on 5 December 1886.
Jack with his parents George and Anna Look at Lower Farm, Sutton, in Somerset.
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In the 1891 census, four-year-old Jack is the youngest of eight siblings living at Lower Sutton Farm, Ditcheat.
Jack appears in the 1901 census as a 14-year-old boarder at Kingston School in Yeovil and the headmaster at the time was Frank C Rudd. Kingston School was enlarged and renamed Yeovil County School (1905), then The Yeovil School (1925) before becoming part of Yeovil College (1974).
In 1911, Jack is lodging at 41 Castle Street, Salisbury along with his older brother Walter Hugh. Jack's profession is given as an auctioneer's clerk while his brother is a corn and cake merchant.
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John Leopold (Jack) Look who, at the time of his death on 1 September 1918 at Arras, France, was a 2nd lieutenant with the 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, attached to the 5th Battalion Devonshire Regiment.
Jack’s mother Anna received a telegram on 3 September informing her that her son is dangerously ill after being shot on 31 August.
On 8 September she received another telegram informing her that Jack had died of his wounds.
The Graves Registration Report Form shows Jack is buried in Grave 9, of Row E, Plot 6 at Bagneux.
Jack’s parents’ headstone at St Mary Magdalene, Ditcheat, reads: George LOOK, died 21 Aug 1912, aged 78. And his wife, Anna Couzens, died 9 June 1925, aged 80. Also his son, John Leopold, 2nd Lieut: 3rd Battn: Glos: Regt:, "killed in action at Arras", 1 Sept 1918, aged 31.
A list compiled 12 days after Jack’s death of his effects includes letters, photos, a knife, whistle and lanyard.
A letter from the War Office a day after the end of World War 1 informed Jack’s mother Anna Look that her son was buried at Bagneux British Cemetery near Doullens.
A marble tablet inside the parish church at Ditcheat honours those who died in World War I who lived locally including Jack.
Jack’s eldest brother George (1873-1952) was the executor and trustee of his will.
George (1873-1952) found his brother’s missing will which meant he could claim two packages the War Office had belonging to Jack. The one package contained his letters, knife etc (see image on this page), the other his wallet, cheque book, photos and cards.
Bagneux British Cemetery at Gezaincourt in France where Jack Look is buried.
Almost 100 years exactly after his great, great uncle’s death, Simon Tilley made a pilgrimage to Bagneux British Cemetery with his wife Angela and golden retriever Poppy. Even if you do not have a relative who made the ultimate sacrifice in either world war, a visit to one of the many Commonwealth cemeteries found in France is a truly moving experience.