LEATHERHEAD WAR MEMORIALS - WWI
Pte Reginald W Gray
7th Bn. The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt.)
Pte
Reginald W. Gray
5th [7th*] Royal West Surrey Regt.,
France
July 1 1916
Taken, Not Given, Liam Sumption, L&DLHS
The Regimental records of the Queen's state that Reginald Gray was born
in Leatherhead, enlisted at Guildford and was 'killed in action'. ¹
* However he was not with the 5th Bn., which had departed for India on
the outbreak of war, but with the 7th Battalion.
What could and did frequently happen to a young British infantry
battalion in the 1914-18 war is told in the entries in the unit's War
Diary for 1st July 1916.
The battalion had already suffered before the attack.² The War Diary
states: "Whilst holding the brigade battlefront for two days prior to
the assault [the battalion] lost 40 casualties and became somewhat
exhausted by enemy shelling."
On 1st July [the first day of the Battle of the Somme] the War Diary
states:
"At 7.30am the battalion assaulted the German
trenches to the front of A1 subsection on a front of 400 yards."
"After 12 hours of fighting the final objective West of Montauban reached
and consolidated on a front of 280 yards."
One party from the battalion and some Pioneers from the Royal Sussex
bombed their way into 'Middle Avenue' and 'back trench', taking 160
prisoners. However the Diary speaks of "the battalion being decimated".
It was worse - it was halved:
| |
Officers |
ORs |
total |
| killed |
7 |
174 |
181 |
| wounded |
9 |
284 |
293 |
| missing |
- |
58 |
58 |
| total |
16 |
516 |
532 |
532 officers and men became casualties: Reginald Gray was among the 174
Other Rank dead. See also Stanley
Yardley.
Another bad day was to come on 13th July 1916 - see Private
Edgar Brooks.
Sources
1.Records of the Queen's Regimental Museum, then at Clandon Park, Surrey
2. Parish Magazine of St Mary & St Nicholas , Leatherhead: February
1916 issue
3. WO95/2051 War Diary of 7th Bn., Queen's: PRO
Name: GRAY,
REGINALD
Age - not given
Rank: Private
Regiment: The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt.)
Unit: 7th Bn.
Date of Death: 1/7/1916
Service No: G/6053
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 5 D and 6 D
Cemetery: THIEPVAL
MEMORIAL
He is not listed in the May 1915 issue of
Leatherhead Parish Magazine among those serving.
Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 30 December 1916
ROLL OF HONOUR. BRAVE SURREY MEN FALLEN IN
THE WAR.
LEATHERHEAD AND DISTRICT
AUGUST.
...
GRAY, Pte. Reginald, killed in action, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W.
Gray, Pretoria Cottages, Kingston-road, Leatherhead.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
The Thiepval Memorial
Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of
Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven
days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met
unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only
minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a
failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and
equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of
the first day.
However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and
counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and
farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally
captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks
north and east continued throughout October and into November in
increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme
finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter.
In the spring of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly
prepared defences, the Hindenburg Line, and there were no further
significant engagements in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted
their major offensive in March 1918.
The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme,
bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United
Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20
March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those
commemorated died between July and November 1916. The memorial also
serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint
nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery containing equal
numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the
memorial.
The memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, was built between 1928 and
1932 and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the
President of France, on 1 August 1932).
His Life
Reginald was born on 3 May 1898, Leatherhead, Surrey and baptised on 3
July 1898 at All Saints, Leatherhead. The Baptism Register records 5
Langley Terrace as the family address which differs from the 4 Langley
Terrace address in the 1901 Census.
His father was William Ernest Gray whose birth on 2 February 1874 was
registered April 1874 at Kingston, Surrey but his early years were spent
in Walkern, Hertfordshire. He was a Labourer and later in life a Railway
Labourer, working in retirement as a part time gardener. He was a son of
William Gray (1852-1925) of Manor Farm, Luffenhall, Ardeley,
Hertfordshire, and Eliza Anne Ives (1855-1920).
His mother was Ethel Wright born in Leatherhead on 5 July 1880 and
baptised on 31 July 1880. She was a daughter of Thomas Wright and Tryphena
Wright.
William and Ethel were married at Leatherhead Parish Church on 11 April
1898.
Reginald's siblings were: Albert Thomas b 1902, Ethel Rose b 1904 and
Dorothy b 1911.
Reginald is known to have lived at:
4 Langley Terrace, Kingston Road, Leatherhead (1901)
2 Pretoria Cottages, Kingston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey (1904, 1911)
After WW1
In the 1939 England & Wales Register Reginald's parents were at 214
Kingston Road, Leatherhead living in retirement, William as a part time
gardener. Ethel as a part time housekeeper. They continued living there
after WW2. William was no longer listed in the Electoral Registers after
1953.
Reginald Gray is also remembered on these memorials
Leatherhead Town Memorial
Leatherhead RBL Roll of
Honour, Leatherhead Parish Church
Ladies War Shrine, Leatherhead Parish
Church
Church Lads Brigade Memorial
Tryptich, All Saints Leatherhead
Surrey
in the Great War
Links
Map
showing the Montauban area and Thiepval
The
Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment
the website editor would like to add
further information on this casualty
e.g. a photo of him, of his name on the Thiepval Memorial
and of any recollections within his family
page last updated 30 Jul 2004: 11 Feb 14: CWGC links updated 7 Nov 17:
content 11 Sep 20