Selected Biographies

Reynolds, Arthur Charles Springett – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1899.  Parents: Minnie Reynolds (Dressmaker) [married George Springett (Hotel Keeper) in 1903].  Family Connections: Nephew of George William Reynolds [b1884].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 to 1911).  Service Record: Arthur was conscripted as Pte.56719 with 17^th [Service] Battalion [1^st South East Lancashire], Lancashire Fusiliers, being posted to France as part of 104^th Brigade, 35^th Division.  His Service Record does not appear to have survived; we cannot be certain therefore exactly when he was posted to the Western Front.  Given his age it should not have been any earlier than March 1918.  The Battalion’s War Diary records that a draft of 145 Other Ranks joined it in the trenches on 13.4.1918, a matter of days before moving into the Corps Reserve at Toutencourt.  Apart from four days in the middle of the month, most of May was spent ten miles behind the front-line, training and practicing for the next assault.  On 29.5.1918 his unit re-occupied trenches at Aveluy Wood, three miles north of Albert, in preparation for an attack two days later.  Although this was initially successful in inflicting serious casualties on the enemy and in the capture of many prisoners from the 24^th Saxony Division, it was ultimately beaten back at the cost of 88 of its own men, killed, wounded, or missing.[1]  Died: Arthur died on 2.6.1918 at the Casualty Clearing Station at Gézaincourt of wounds received the previous morning, on the western edge of the Wood.  Private Reynolds is buried in Bagneux British Cemetery [grave ref: II.C.25], Gézaincourt, Somme, France, and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[2]

Reynolds, Frederick George – Born: Ipswich, Suffolk on 27.5.1898.[3]  Parents: Enoch George Reynolds (Groom and Gardener) and Emma [née Goodwin].  Family Connections: Brother to Herbert James Reynolds [b1899].  Home: 31 Emlen Street, Ipswich, Suffolk (1901), Denham Abbots, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1911), Chapel Lane, Little Cornard, Suffolk [1916].  Occupation: Boots [1916].  Service Record: Frederick was conscripted on 29.5.1916 as Pte.9694 with 3^rd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment.  On 5.7.1917 he was posted to France as Pte.72056, joining 11^th [Service] Battalion, Sherwood Foresters [Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment] as part of 70th Brigade, 23rd Division.[4]  Died: On 24.9.1917 Frederick was listed as missing presumed killed in action during the Battle of Menin Road Ridge near Ypres.  He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, [panel 99 to 102], Passchendaele, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium and the War Memorial in Little Cornard, Suffolk.[5]

Reynolds, George William – Born: Long Melford in 1884.  Parents: George Reynolds of Newport, Essex (Great Eastern Railway Agents Carmen) and Frances [née Joe].  Family Connections: Uncle of Arthur Charles Springett Reynolds [b1899].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 to 1911), 19 Queens Road, Sudbury (1921), Kelso, Main Road, Tollgate, Dovercourt, Essex [1935].  Occupation: Ironmonger’s Shop Assistant (1911 to 1921).  Married: Flora Maud Diggins in 1911.  Service Record: George enlisted as Pte.R38199 with the London Regiment, seeing action in France, where he was wounded.  His disability was such that he was unable to gain employment in 1921.[6]  Died: Dovercourt, Essex on 9.5.1935.[7]

Reynolds, Herbert James – Born: Ipswich, Suffolk on 20.11.1899.[8]  Parents: Enoch George Reynolds (Groom and Gardener) and Emma [née Goodwin].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick George Reynolds [b1898]; also, brother-in-law of Harry Johnson [b1889], James Johnson [b1894] and Charles Johnson [b1896]. Home: 31 Emlen Street, Ipswich, Suffolk (1901), Denham Abbots, Bury St Edmunds (1911), aboard HMS Montrose, off Malta (1921), Liston Lane, Long Melford [1925], 2 Martins Rise, Long Melford (1939). Occupation: Agricultural Labourer [1917], Sailor [1917 to 1933]. Married: Florence May Johnson of Long Melford in 1924. Service Record: Herbert enlisted on 20.11.1917 as Boy Sailor N^o. J79205 with the Royal Navy, serving on the protected cruiser HMS Powerful in 1917, the battlecruiser HMS Renown in 1918 and the destroyer HMS Montrose in 1921.  He remained in the navy until 1933.[9] – Died: Little Waldingfield, Suffolk on 22.4.1982.

Related Biographies

Johnson, Charles – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 21.2.1896.[10]  Parents: Charles Johnson (Agricultural Labourer) and Emma [née Flack].  Family Connections: Brother to Harry Johnson [b1889] and James Johnson [b1894]; also, brother-in-law of Herbert James Reynolds [b1899].  Home: Bulney Moors Farm Cottage, Heaven Lane, Long Melford (1901 to 1911), New Road, Glemsford, Suffolk (1921), 48 Hunts Hill, Glemsford (1939) to [1956]. Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), Scutcher for Flax Cultivation Ltd., of Glemsford (1921), Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Mary Elizabeth Fumish in 1920.  Service Record: Charles enlisted on 1.7.1915 as Pte.9617 with 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring on 8.2.1916 as Pte.3679 to 51^st Brigade Machine Gun Company and posted to France as part of 17^th [Northern] Division.  He was wounded by shrapnel to his left leg on 26.6.1916 and repatriated to England.  He was reposted to France with 214^th MG Company from 16.3.1917 as part of 173^rd Brigade, 58^th [2/1^st London] Division, being injured again on 20.9.1917, by a gunshot wound to the left side of his face, while encamped at Poperinghe, near Ypres.[11]  He was taken to N^o. 46 Casualty Clearing Station at Mendinghem, before being sent to England for months of treatment.  Charles never returned to active service and on 2.7.1918 was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged as ‘surplus to military requirements’.[12]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 13.2.1956.[13]

Johnson, Harry – Born: Hartest, Suffolk on 28.9.1889.[14] Parents: Charles Johnson (Agricultural Labourer) and Emma [née Flack]. Family Connections: Brother to James Johnson [b1894] and Charles Johnson [b1896]; also, brother-in-law of Herbert James Reynolds [b1899]. Home: Ballingdon Yard, Hartest, Suffolk (1891), Bulney Moors Farm Cottage, Heaven Lane, Long Melford (1901), Military Barracks, Egypt (1911), Bulney Moors Farm, Long Melford [1918], Clay Pits Cottages, Foxearth, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Labourer [1907], Soldier [1907 to 1919], Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Married: Elizabeth M. Mott in 1928.  Service Record: Harry enlisted in July 1907 as Pte.7589 with ‘C’ Company, 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, serving in Malta and Egypt.  At the start of the First World War, he was stationed at Khartoum in the Sudan.  He was posted to France from 16.1.1915, as part of 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division, the Battalion taking over trenches in the Verbrandenmolen sector to the south of Ypres.  On 15.2.1915 German troops broke through the British front line, overwhelming trenches held by ‘C’ Company; it was during this action that Harry Johnson received a gunshot wound to the head and together with the other survivors in his company was taken prisoner.[15]  Private Johnson was transported first to a German field hospital at Lille, then on to Prisoner of War camps at Friedrichsfeld and Wahn near Cologne, being repatriated to England on 29.12.1918.[16]  On 6.2.1919 he was transferred to 11^th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, finally being discharged in July 1919.[17]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1940.

Johnson, James – Born: Hartest, Suffolk in 1894.  Parents: Charles Johnson (Agricultural Labourer) and Emma [née Flack]. Family Connections: Brother to Harry Johnson [b1889] and Charles Johnson [b1896]; also, brother-in-law of Herbert James Reynolds [b1899]. Home: Bulney Moors Farm Cottage, Heaven Lane, Long Melford (1901 and 1911).  Occupation: Cowman on Farm (1911).  Service Record: James was conscripted on 8.3.1916 as Pte.25229 with 10^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, posted to France from 13.9.1917 with 3/10^th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex] Regiment and transferring as Pte. G/21327 to ‘B’ Company, 3/4^th Battalion, The Queen’s Own [Royal West Kent] Regiment, then part of 52^nd Brigade, 17^th [Northern] Division.  He was wounded on 15.12.1917 near Ypres and evacuated to N^o. 59 Northern General Hospital at St. Omer in France.  Upon recovery he was transferred to ‘C’ Company, 6^th [Service] Battalion, Royal West Kents as part of 37^th Brigade, 12^th [Eastern] Division, receiving shrapnel wounds to the face and right eye on 22.3.1918, while stationed near the town of Albert.[18]  Died: James died of his wounds on 27.3.1918 at N^o. 51 Casualty Clearing Station at Merville and is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery Extension [grave ref: III.C.12], Nord, France and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[19]

Notes – [1] For details of Arthur’s time with his battalion during the first half of 1918 see War Diary [WO 95/2484/1].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [2] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 702921], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] Baptism Register of 27.7.1898 for St Matthews Church, Ipswich.  [4] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, [ref: 11/D/111742] and Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329].  [5] Commonwealth War Grave Commission record.  [6] Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 [ref: 11/M/17743, 11/APD/1451 and 11/W/67373]. [7] National Probate Calendar.  [8] Baptism Register 19.1.1900, St Matthews Church, Ipswich. [9] He is recorded as an Able Seaman at the baptism of his daughter in 1925, see Baptism Register of 1.11.1925 for Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford [Bury Record Office – ref: FL509/4/18].  See also his Royal Navy Registers of Seaman’s Services [ADM 188/805] and Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/113 and ADM 171/150].  [10] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Melford Rural District in Suffolk and his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [11] For details of 51^st Machine Gun Company’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2008/3], and for 214^th MG Company’s see War Diary see [WO 95/3001/11]. [12] Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: 485317], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [13] National Probate Calendar.  [14] Date of birth from his Prisoner of War record held by the International Committee of the Red Cross.  The 1939 Register for Halstead Rural District in Essex records his birth year as 1888 and confirms his wife’s name.  His birth year of 1889 has been used because it is also consistent with the Birth Index which records that his birth was registered in the fourth quarter of 1889. [15] For details of 1^st Suffolks’ movements see War Diary [WO 95/2277/3], for details of the action see Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. Murphy The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.49-55. [16] For Harry’s Prisoner of War records see International Committee of the Red Cross website [file refs: PA2090, PA4291, PA7319 and PA7862].  [17] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [18] For details of 3/4^th Royal West Kents’s movements at the time of James’s injury see War Diary [WO 95/2013/2], for details of 6^th Royal West Kents’s movements at the time of his fatal injury see War Diary [WO 95/1861/6].  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [19] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 656910].