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Name :
Allan Edward Douglas Reason. Son of Thomas Reason, of Hambrough House, Totland Bay, Isle of Wight; husband of Elsie Lilian Smith (formerly Reason), of Freens Court Cottage, Busy Hill, Sutton, Hereford. Born 1891, Totland, Isle of Wight. Commemorated on these Memorials : Totland War Memorial Christ Church, Totland, War Memorial Carisbrooke Castle County War Memorial Service details : Private 28572 Allan Edward Douglas Reason, 2nd/5th Bn. King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) Date of Death :26 October 1917 aged 24 Commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium. CWGC record ... Service records : found using Ancestry.co.uk From the Service Records, Allan Reason enlisted on 8 May 1916 in Hounslow, when his next of kin was given as his wife, Mrs Elsie Lilian Reason (nee Croucher), of 70 Ernest Gardens, Stroud Green, Chiswick, W [London]. He saw service with the Royal Lancaster Regiment, but there was also a period when he served with the Labour Corps, (as Private 68206 Reason), attached to a number of regiments including the Royal Fusiliers, the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and the Royal West Sussex Regiment. He was killed in action serving with the Royal Lancaster Regiment on 26 October 1917, the first day of the 2nd Battle of Passchendaele. From his medical record, we find that he was 5 ft 3 in tall, weighed 133 lbs, and had a chest measurement of 36". His health was described as good, but it may be that his vision was imperfect in one eye - the record gives a figure of 6/60 for the right eye, and 6/0 for the left. [see note below] Medal Index Card : British War Medal, Victory Medal. Further Information Census 1891 : Family at High Street, Freshwater (Colwell). "Allen E Reason" is aged 3 months. Thomas Reason is shown as a Carriage Proprietor. Census 1901 : Family at Weston Stables, Totland. "Allen Reason" is aged 10 years. Thomas Reason is shown as a Carriage Proprietor. Census 1911 : Family at Hambrough Villa, Totland Bay. "Allan Reason" is aged 20 years and his occupation is "Cab Driver assisting in business". Thomas Reason is shown as a Cab Proprietor. Marriage : Allan Reason married, on 25 November 1915, at a Register Office on the Isle of Wight, Elsie Lilian Croucher, a children's nurse. She was born in 1892 (birth registered in Lewisham). She was remarried in 1922, to William H Smith. Some of William and Elsie Smith's descendants (William and Elsie Richards) appealed in June 2010 for any of the Reason family to come forward so that they could pass on Pte Reason's medals to them, and later in 2010, they were passed to a great-niece, Paulette Thompson. I am grateful to Mr and Mrs Richards, and Mrs Thompson for permission to publish Pte Reason's biography.
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Page last updated : 3 August 2010
Page last updated : 3 August 2010