When World War II broke out in 1939 Jack Ladenburg, who died on 31st December 1990, was working for the Bank of London and South America in Uruguay.
Without hesitation, he returned to England to join the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, the regiment in which his father, Arthur Ladenburg, had fought, and won an M.C., in the Great War.
Unlike many expatriates living out of harm’s way in unaffected parts of the world, he had no doubts as to where his duty lay.
John Arthur George Ladenburg was born in 1911 at Chobham, Surrey, and was educated at Charterhouse and Pembroke, Cambridge. His family business was banking but that was set aside when he returned to England to join the 8th Hussars.
This he achieved just in time to take part in the disastrous action at Bir Hakeim in May 1942 when the Regiment was all but overwhelmed.
Jack managed to avoid being captured and in June was in ‘C’ Squadron with Major ‘Shan’ Hackett as they fought their way back to the Alamein Line. In July ‘C’ Squadron joined the 4th Hussars in the composite 4th/8th Hussar Regiment.
Constant actions with Rommel’s Afrika Corps followed until September when they fought the battle of Alam Halfa.
During this battle, the 4th/8th Hussars played a notable part, and at one moment Jack’s tank was hit three times but not knocked out. In this action, he was Mentioned in Despatches.
Alam Halfa was a vital battle for, had it been lost, the whole of Egypt might have been lost as well, and the victory had a profound effect on raising the morale of the Desert Rats. The battle of Alamein followed in October and the tide of war in the Desert had turned.
In due course, the Regiment returned to England to prepare for the Invasion and D-Day, 6th June 1944, and Jack was appointed Adjutant to Lt-Col Cuthy Goulburn.
They crossed on D+3 and landed relatively quietly in Normandy, still in the 7th Armoured Division.
It took some time to settle into their different tanks — Cromwells — and the very different close terrain of the bocage around them, but Jack soon found that a 75mm shell locker was perfectly designed to hold Camembert cheeses, bringing an atmosphere of its own to RHQ.
He remained Adjutant through the many actions in France, Belgium and Holland but before the Rhine crossing, with his health impaired, he bade farewell to the Regiment.
Soon after the war Jack, with his wife Yvonne, who had been in the WRNS, and their first son returned to Uruguay to pick up the threads of his pre-war life. Two more sons were born in Montevideo, and in 1953 the family returned to England for good.
He entered the City as a Stock-jobber which kept him busy until his retirement in 1980.
His wife sadly predeceased him in 1969, but with a growing family of grandchildren his ebullient good nature and cheerful friendliness, so evident during his service days, appealed to the young around him, and he spent a happy and active retirement.
He kept closely in touch with Regimental affairs and particularly relished the “Past”, Commanding Officers’ and Adjutants” Reunion Dinner at Lulworth in 1989 which he attended.
His loyalty and enthusiasm for his family, his country and his regiment will long be remembered and respected by all who knew him.
