Private Thomas Hancock (3957979) served in 1st Battalion Welch regiment during the Second World War. Born in Glamorgan, Wales, he was the husband of Kathleen Hancock (née Callaghan) of 6 Belgrade Street, Belfast.
He died at a military hospital Germany on 4th July 1942 aged 28 years old. 1st Battalion Welch Regiment was in North Africa at the time suffering heavy losses, and being overrun by Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Corps. As the Desert Fox’s troops swept through Cyrenaica and Libya in the First Battle of El Alamein, Hancock’s name appeared on the list of missing on 2nd June 1941. He became a prisoner of war during the Battle of Crete. At the time, the Private had 11 years’ service.
Kathleen Hancock received news of her husband’s death in July 1942, only a day after receiving news that her brother Gunner David Callaghan had been wounded in the Middle East. Another 2 of Thomas’ brothers also served in the British Army in the Second World War.
WartimeNI Photo: A Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone marks the grave of Private Thomas Hancock, The Welch Regiment in the 1939-1945 Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. Photo taken on 24th October 2017. Copyright Scott Edgar - WartimeNI.
Thomas Hancock’s grave is in Section 11, Row M, Grave 17 of the 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. His headstone bears the inscription:
Please pray for the soul of my dear husband Thomas. RIP.