Pte 52007 Arthur Edwin Reynolds

• Age: 24
• From: Ganllywd, Merioneth
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Arthur Edwin Reynolds was born in 1892 in Ganllwyd, now part of Snowdonia National Park,  the son of Arthur Edwin Reynolds and his wife Winifred (nee Humphreys). He was baptised on 1st May 1892 in the parish of Llanelltydd (5 miles south of Ganllwyd), his parents’ residence given as Glan Y Mawddach Cottages, Llanddwywe-uwch-y-graig, and his father’s occupation as coachman. (Llanddwywe is north of Barmouth, near the coast 8 miles east of Ganllwyd).

By 1894 the family had moved to the Saffron Walden district in Essex.

At the time of the 1901 census they are living in High Street, Great Chesterford (10 miles south of Cambridge), with five children. His father, Arthur E. is aged 42, a domestic coachman born in Arrington, Cambs, mother Winifred is aged 32 born in Ganllwyd, Arthur E. aged 9 born Ganllwyd, born Great Chesterford were Ellen C. 6, Richard 5, Gladys 3 and Winifred 2 months were born in Great Chesterford.

The 1911 Census shows the family living at High Street Great Chesterford, Essex. His father Arthur Edwin is aged 52, born 1859 occupation farm labourer, his mother Winifred is aged 42. They advised that they had been married for 19 years and had 8 children, 7 of whom have survived. They have six children in the household, all but Arthur Edwin born in Great Chesterford, Essex, Arthur being born in Ganllywd, North Wales like his mother.  Arthur Edwin aged 19, born 1892 is a gardener (domestic), Richard aged 15, born 1896 house boy, Gladys aged 13, born 1898, Winifred aged 10, born 1901, John Knightly aged 5 born 1906 and Stanley Oliver aged 3 born 1908. His sister Ellen is in London, working as a housemaid in Oxford Square, Hyde Park.

SDGW shows that Arthur was living in Gresford, just north of Wrexham, before enlisting.

He enlisted in Liverpool and was and formerly of the 10^th Battalion K.L.R. but was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52007 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916 aged 24 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds:

“As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.” 

Arthur Edwin has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

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. 

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

His mother Winifred, living in Carmen Street, Great Chesterford, Essex, received a War Gratuity of £3 and was awarded a pension of 3/- a week from July 1917.

His brother Richard (“second son of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds of Great Chesterford”) appears to have earned gallantry medals. He served in the Essex Regiment and as Lance Corporal was awarded the Military Medal in 1917.  As Sergeant, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the citation reading,

“For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack near Becourt on the morning of 23rd August, 1918.  After the line was established on its objective he took forward a fighting patrol and in spite of heavy machine gun fire reached the eastern edge of the wood, about 1,000 yards in front of the line and established a post there.  He showed a fine example to his men in his complete disregard for danger.”

His father died in 1938 aged 79.

In 1939 his widowed mother, 71, is still in Carmen Street, with son Stanley.  She died in 1943 aged 75.

Arthur is commemorated on the Great Chesterford Cross.

We currently have no further information on Arthur Edwin Reynolds, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.