REGINALD STANSFIELD KING
image from 1915 Suffolk Chronicle & Mercury newspaper.
Born: 1896, Little Dunham, Norfolk.
Died: 8th May 1915; age 19; reported missing 8th May 1915.
Residence: Post Office, 398, Bramford Road, Ipswich.
Employment: Served his apprentice at Messrs. Thompson and Morgan. Leaving there to take a situation in London.
Enlistment Details: Location: Ipswich; during the recruitment week for the 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment; date: 1912; age: 16; occupation: apprenticeship – Messrs. Thompson & Morgan. Attended two camps with the 4th Battalion. Due to his apprenticeship with Messrs. Thompson & Morgan, Reginald was obliged to apply for his discharge.
At the outbreak of war he came home at once to rejoin, but was put on the waiting list. Being anxious to get to the front he joined the Regulars (Suffolks), and was sent to the depot at Bury St. Edmunds, from there went he to Felixstowe, where he put in some good training. He was very soon made Corporal. He went out in February to join the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
Date of Entry Therein: 23rd February 1915 – France.
Rank: Corporal; Service Number: 9027
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion.
Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star.
Memorial Reference:
Panel 21.
Belgium.
CENSUS
1901 60, Buckingham Terrace, London Road, South Lynn, Norfolk.
Reginald was 5 years old and living with his father & brother.
Charles Arthur King, 36, a Grocer – Shopkeeper – own account, born Stansfield, Suffolk.
Charles Stanley King, 6, born Little Dunham, Norfolk.
1 general domestic servant.
In 1901 Reginald’s mother & sister were staying with his paternal uncle, John Robert King and his family at The Street, Woolpit, Suffolk.
Eleanor Maria King (nee Baalham), 30, born Hadleigh, Suffolk.
Gladys Gertrude King, 2, born Kings Lynn, Suffolk.
1911 39, Carlisle Road, Romford, Essex.
Reginald was 15 years old, he was working at a Nursery. He was boarding at the home of 68 year old, Samuel James Jarvis, a Public Park Attendant.
Reginald’s last letter received by his parents was dated 4th May; he wrote saying he had been in the thick of it, but was quite well and happy, and would be sending some flowers next time he wrote.
Soldiers’ Effects to Charles A. King – father.
Reginald is also remembered on the St. Nicholas Congregational Church war memorial, once sited at St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich.
Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion. 84th Brigade
The Second Battle of Ypres was underway and the 1st Battalion was to suffer over a thousand casualties in six weeks with fierce fighting along the Salient. The Battle of Frezenberg Ridge and Bellewaarde Ridge were to take its toll on the 1st Battalion. At 10:00 a.m on the 8th May, the attack began with heavy shelling from both sides of all calibre, then came a cloud of yellow green poison gas that drifted through the British lines. Blinded and choking men continued to fight on still under a hail of bullets and shell fire. The shelling had cut most of the communication wires, with little information passing through. The exposed roads gave little shelter for the limited supply line. The German attack had overwhelmed the British, by noon the Battalion had 400 casualties with 12 Ipswich men dead and more to be killed or die of wounds in the following weeks.
Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion:
Suffolk Regiment Battalion movements
SUFFOLK REGIMENT MUSEUM
Friends of The Suffolk Regiment
Leave a Reply