Family :

Education & Career :

Whitgift Grammar School.
Doctor.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

31 July - 10 November 1917. By the summer of 1917 the British Army was able for the first time to fight on its chosen ground on its terms. Having secured the southern ridges of Ypres at Messines in June, the main attack started on 31st July 1917 accompanied by what seemed like incessant heavy rain, which coupled with the artillery barrages conspired to turn much of the battlefield into a bog. Initial failure prompted changes in the high command and a strategy evolved to take the ring of ridges running across the Ypres salient in a series of 'bite and hold' operations, finally culminating in the capture of the most easterly ridge on which sat the infamous village of Passchendaele. The Official History carries the footnote ?The clerk power to investigate the exact losses was not available? but estimates of British casualties range from the official figure of 244,000 to almost 400,000. Within five months the Germans pushed the British back to the starting line, which was where they had been since May 1915.

Detail :

Lieutenant Reginald Hill MC of Royal Army Medical Corps attached to 1st Bn. Coldstream Guards, from Purley in Surrey (he was a member of the local Freemasons' Lodge) who attended Whitgift Grammar School 1902-04 and whose qualifications were: M.B, B.S., London. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Eng. He had been a house physician at Barts Hospital, London, where he had won various prizes; house surgeon at Great Northern Hospital; the first surgeon to attend the Red Cross hospital attached to the Ottoman forces in Tripoli during war with Italy in 1912. He travelled from Brisbane to join up in January 1915, obtained a commission in Royal Field Artillery and went to France, thence Egypt until 1917. He had joined Royal Naval Air Service & was injured in a crash. Transferred to R.A.M.C. & attached to Coldstream Guards, he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous bravery and a fine devotion to duty during an attack on Pilckem Ridge on 31 July 1917. He was killed by a shell on 11 October 1917 aged 30, leaving a widow & one daughter. His chaplain said he was very much loved and admired, whilst his Colonel stated the men admired him. Reginald was shot while attending to wounded. From RAMC Site Reginald was educated at Whitgift Grammer School. He was a student at St Bartholomew's Hospital from 1905, and obtained the diplomas of M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.[Eng] in 1911 and graduated M.B., B.S. [Lond] 1913, having already served as 1st Surgeon to the British Red Crescent Hospital - attached to Ottoman Forces in Tripoli in the Turco-Italian War in 1912. He subsequently served as House-Physician to Dr Garrod at St Bart's House [where he was a winner of various prizes], and as Surgeon at the Great Northern Hospital. He then went into practice at Farnham in Surrey. Reginald travelled from Brisbane to join up in January 1915. He obtained a Commission in R.F.A. and went to France, arriving on the 18th February 1915. In 1917, he went to Egypt where he joined the Air Service but was injured in a crash. Reginald was transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps and attached to the Coldstream Guards. He was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous bravery and a fine devotion to duty during an attack on the Pilkem Ridge on 31st July 1917. The official report states: During an attack he continually attended the wounded under heavy barrage, and on the objective being gained he quickly formed a dressing station where he was indefatigable in his attention to the wounded of his own and another battalion, although under continuous fire for two days. By his cheerfulness and splendid devotion to duty he set a fine example to all ranks. Reginald was shot while attending to wounded. He was the son of George William and Esther Hill of 21 West Hill, N. 6; and the husband of Ivy Elizabeth Hill of Purley, Surrey. They had one daughter. Reginald was a member of the Purley Lodge of Freemasons. It was stated by both is Chaplain, and his Colonel, that he was very much loved and admired, and that the men adored him.

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley