Lives of the First World War

Service Details : Private 15001 Reginald Rowell, 5th Bn., Dorsetshire Regiment. Formerly 192473 in Royal Naval service. Reginald Rowell enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd class in 1897, and attested for continuous service on 12 September 1899, for a period of 12 years. He was 5 ft 3 in tall, with dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. His date of birth was recorded as 12 September 1881, and place of birth as 'Loake' I.W. He was a Labourer. His Service record [from The National Archives, supplied by Trevor Rowell] shows that he was rated Boy 2nd class on enlistment (15 Feb 1897), with subsequent ratings Boy 1st class (4 Nov 1897), Ordinary Seaman (12 Sep 1899), and Able Seaman (3 Mar 1901). He served with the following ships or shore establishments : H.M.S. St Vincent H.M.S. Rodney H.M.S. Prince George H.M.S. Vulcan H.M.S. Cruiser H.M.S. Duke of Wellington H.M.S. Excellent H.M.S. Firequeen I H.M.S. Revenge H.M.S. King Edward VII H.M.S. Victory I He was discharged on 18 Apr 1907, having completed a total of just over 10 years' service. Trevor Rowell writes : Reginald Rowell fought in several battles of the Somme while they were part of 34th Bde. 11th Div. The battles he took part in were: The capture of the Wundt-Werk (Wonder Work) The Battle of Flers-Courcelette 15 - 22nd September The Battle of Thiepval 26 - 29 September From the date of his death we believe he was killed first day of the battle of Ancre 13 - 16 Nov 1916 Details of the battle can be seen at: Battle of the Ancre (Wikipedia article) The 5th Dorsets were not in the official order of battle on that day but the regimental history shows that elements of the 5th Btn did take part. I have found out that Reginald Rowell was a member of the machine gun section of the 5th Dorsets and this is how it all fits:- A Machine Gun Company was attached to each Infantry Brigade and their subsequent Division. Hence the 34th Machine Gun Company. Brigade attached to: 34th Brigade Division attached to: 11th (Northern) Division Formed from the: Machine Gun Section of 8th Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers Machine Gun Section of 9th Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers Machine Gun Section of 5th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment Machine Gun Section of 11th Bn. Manchester Regiment

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