Whiting, Reginald. 1914

Reginald G. Whiting. Died 31 Oct 1914.

Reginald was born in 1887 and lived with his parents, elder brother and three younger sisters. They lived in various places varying from Reading Sulham, Shinfield and Emmbrook, all in the county of Berkshire. From the 1901 census we know his father worked as a cattleman, whilst he and his brother were carters. By 1911, Reginald had joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion and by 1914 he had moved to the 1st Battalion, which was to see early action at the start of the war. Although not stated, it seems probable that as Reginald was killed at the end of October 1914, the likely location is around the First Battle of Ypres. An excerpt from John Chapman’s excellent www.purley.eu, on the Royal Berkshire Regiment 1st Battalion:

‘The 1st Bn was at Aldershot when war was declared. They departed for France on the 12th August 1914 and participated in the retreat from Mons as part of 6th Brigade. Their first major action was at the Bridge on theSambre 25th/26th August. The end point of the Retreat was reached on 7th September when they reached Le Poteau. The flow of fighting was reversed on 9th September when they crossed the Marne and then the Aisneon the 14th. They then settled into trench warfare based at La Metz Farm. One of the first executions of the war took place there on 26th September when 9641 Pte George Ward was shot for cowardice. The Bn were involved in the 1st battle of Ypres from the 22nd October to the 13th November’

Here is Reginald’s family tree:

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