DESMOND, JOSEPH DANIEL
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Private
4077666
24/09/1944
23
Monmouthshire Regiment 2nd Bn.
I. C. 14.
R.I.P.
Sunshine passes, shadows fall
But love and remembrance
Out-last all
Wife, son, mum, dad and family
Additional Information:
Son of Jeremiah and Roseanna Desmond; husband of Martha Desmond, of Middlesbrough, Yorkshire.
The 2nd battalion Monmouthshire fought around the area of Voorheide on the 24th of September 1944. Joseph Desmond was also initially buried at Voorheide.
Original gravesite at Voorheide.
From the service records of Joseph Daniel Desmond, the following account can be reconstructed.
Joseph Daniel Desmond was born on 25 October 1920 in Cwmbran, Newport, Monmouthshire. In civilian life he worked as a steel worker. He enlisted in the British Army on 25 June 1938 and joined the South Wales Borderers / Monmouthshire Regiment.
He married Martha Elizabeth Barron on 3 October 1942 in Middlesbrough. The couple had one child.
Joseph Daniel Desmond embarked for service in North West Europe on 19 June 1944.
According to his service records, he was 5 feet 8 inches tall, with fair hair and brown eyes.
Joseph Daniel Desmond was killed in action on 24 September 1944.
Newspaper clipping anouncing the death of Joseph Daniel Desmond.
Above, family visits to Desmond’s grave.