Jack has no known grave. He fell on the opening morning of the Third Battle of Ypres, and — like so many lost in the Salient — he is remembered today on the great memorials of Flanders, where, a little over a century on, his family still goes to find his name.

Frezenberg, 31st July 1917

Jack was killed acting as a Forward Observation Officer in support of the attack on the Frezenberg Redoubt on the opening morning of the Third Battle of Ypres. The ground he fell on is marked today by a memorial to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, whose 7th/8th Battalion took the Redoubt that same morning.

Memorial plaque at the Frezenberg Redoubt
The memorial at Frezenberg: “It was here, on 31 July 1917 … the Frezenberg Redoubt” — the action Jack was supporting when he was killed
Silhouette figures at the Frezenberg memorial
The memorial figures at Frezenberg, looking out over the ground of the 31st July attack

The Menin Gate

Captain John Loudon Strain is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Missing, which bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men who fell in the Salient and have no known grave. His name is carved on Panel 9, among the Royal Garrison Artillery.

The Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres
The Menin Gate, Ypres, where the Last Post has been sounded almost every evening since 1928
The Royal Garrison Artillery panel at the Menin Gate, showing Captain Strain J. L.
Panel 9 — “Royal Garrison Artillery · Captain · Strain J. L.” Listed just below, as Second Lieutenant, is Linden S. McC. — the officer killed at Jack’s side

“Their name liveth for evermore”

A Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cross of Sacrifice with wreaths
The Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Flanders

Jack was mentioned in Field Marshal Haig’s despatches of December 1917, in a list of those “whose distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty I consider deserving of special mention”. His Medal Index Card is held by The National Archives (WO 372/19/83350).