John Whitcomb

Bank: Coutts & Co

Place of work: London Strand office

Died: 13 February 1944

John Holmstead Whitcomb was born in Barnet, London in 1921, the son of Edith and James Whitcomb. He worked for Coutts & Co, London.

During the Second World War Whitcomb left the bank to go on military service, joining the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman. By November 1941 he had been promoted to Sub Lieutenant and served on HMS Suffolk and HMS Goth on patrol in the Denmark Straits. He was promoted to Lieutenant in October 1943, whilst serving on HMS Cap d'Antifer in the North Sea undertaking minesweeping and anti-E-boat patrols.

Lieutenant Whitcomb was killed on 13 February 1944 when HMS Cap d'Antifer was torpedoed by an E-boat off the coast of Hull and sunk with the loss of all crew. He was 22 years old and left a widow, Joan, whom he had married in 1943.

John Whitcomb is commemorated on a bank memorial at Coutts & Co, London 440 Strand.