More about George Reynolds

George Reynolds was the son of Mr George Reynolds of 2 City Road, Dundee and was employed as a Grocer. In October 1914 he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve onboard HMS Unicorn for service in the Royal Naval Division. After initial Naval Training at the Crystal Palace in South London he was sent to Blandford Camp in Dorset for advanced military training. In March 1915 he was drafted to D Company of the Benbow Battalion which was in training at Blandford. In May the Battalion sailed for Gallipoli and took part in the Third Battle of Krithia on 4 June 1915. The Benbows were held in reserve but this was their first and last action because, as the other RND Battalions advanced towards the enemy line, they were caught in heavy Turkish artillery and machinegun fire. The number of dead and wounded was very high and the Benbow was disbanded two days later. The men were distributed to the other RND battalions to replace their losses and George Reynolds was sent to the Anson Battalion. At the end of June he was admitted to the Port Said General Hospital with a severe bullet wound to the face. Recovering in July he returned to the Anson on Gallipoli in mid August. In September he was detached to First Naval Brigade HQ for special duties. He survived the rest of the campaign and, in January 1916 he undertook garrison duties in the Aegean. In May he sailed to Marseille onboard the troopship Minnewaska when the RND was transferred to France and the Western Front. In June he was briefly hospitalised with Scabies and later, in October, admitted to the 25th General Hospital at Hardelot with impetigo. He was evacuated to Sevenoaks in Kent for treatment and then the Naval Hospital at Chatham. He was granted 9 days leave at the end of November and returned to the Anson Battalion in February 1917 shortly before he was killed in action during the Puisieux and River Trench fighting. George Reynolds’ body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France. He is listed in the Dundee City Roll of Honour, entry D3357, as Reynold.

George Reynolds   CZ/1851   Anson Bn   R.N.D.

REYNOLDS—Killed in action, on the 17th February, A.B. George Reynolds, CZ1851, R.N.D., aged 21 only son of Mr and Mrs G. Reynolds, 2 City Road, Dundee.

Inserted by his sorrowing parents and sisters.

Dundee People’s Journal 10th March 1917