REILLY , Reginald Herbert
(Service number 22860)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 30 June 1894 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 7 February 1916 | Age | 21 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Tiriruakawa | ||
| Occupation | Farm hand | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Territorials - unfit | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs A. J. CAMPBELL (sister), Mangaweka | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 7th Reinforcements, 2nd Battalion | ||
| Date | 27 May 1916 | ||
| Transport | Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 7 August 1967 | Age | 73 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Waihi Beach | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Mangaweka Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Reginald Herbert Reilly was born on 30 June 1894 at Timaru, the seventh child and fourth son of Cecil Charles Frodsham Reilly and Sarah Ann née Nixon. In about 1896, the family moved to Kawhatau in the North Island. Reginald enlisted on 7 February 1916 at Trentham. He was a farm hand at Tiriuakawa, single and Presbyterian, and he named his sister Gretchen as next-of-kin – Mrs A. J. Campbell, Mangaweka. He belonged to the Territorials but was unfit.
Rifleman R. H. Reilly embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade of the 7th Reinforcements, departing per the “Tofua” on 27 May 1916. He suffered permanent disability from a gunshot wound to his right elbow. After serving in Western Europe, he embarked for the return to New Zealand per the Hospital Ship “Marama” at Southampton on 13 January 1917. He was discharged on 11 May 1917, no longer physically fit for war service on account of wounds received in action.
Reginald Herbert Reilly married Christiana Kate Smith on 12 February 1919 at Taihape. Reginald and Christiana had three sons and two daughters. He died at Waihi Beach on 7 August 1967, aged 73 years, and was buried at Mangaweka Cemetery with Christiana who had died in 1946.
His brothers, John Norman Reilly and Peter William Reilly, also served in World War One, as did cousins Walter Leslie Reilly, Herbert Reginald Walker and Charles Francis Taylor Peake.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27 November 2024]; Mangaweka Cemetery headstone transcription & burial record (Rangitikei District Council) [28 November 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [28 November 2024]
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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