Name
Reginald Anthony Hargreaves
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
28/06/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lieutenant
Durham Light Infantry
4th Bn., attached to 2nd Bn., Durham Light Infantry
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LOOS MEMORIAL
Panel 106 and 107.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Benington War Memorial
St. Peter’s Church Roll of Honour Benington
Pre War
Reginald was born on the 28th June 1896 the son of Richard Tattersall & Elinor Hargreaves of The Old Rectory, Benington Park. He was educated at Stanstead Hall and later, between May 1910 and July 1914, at Radley College. He joined the Army on the 28th September 1914 and arrived in France on the 1st June 1915.
Wartime Service
On the 28th October 1915 Reginald was in charge of fatigue posts at St.Jean, part of the defences at Potijze, near Ypres in Belgium. Here he received a shell wound to his back and was put out of action for a few months. He eventually returned to the Battalion in time to serve with it during the Somme offensives and was again wounded on the 25th September 1916, this time by shell fragments in his face which knocked him to the ground injuring his ankle. He again returned to his unit on the 8th December 1916 and on the 17th January 1917 received further wounds, this time whilst serving in the Cambrin sector. All of this before he was old enough to vote. On the 28th June 1917, his 21st Birthday, he was chosen to lead two parties, consisting of 2 Sergeants, 4 Corporals and 36 Privates, in a raid on German trenches, south-east of a location named Cameron Crater. The raiders waited in a trench called Novel Alley whilst the British artillery laid down a barrage. At 7.10pm, as soon as the barrage lifted they jumped into the enemy trenches and as he led his men forward he was shot in the head at close range. Reginald’s body was not recovered at the time and was probably buried by the Germans. He has no known grave, and as such his name is recorded on the Loos Memorial.
Additional Information
www.stevenageatwar.com
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild
Paul Johnson, Jonty Wild
