Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Spare | III. C. 10. | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Early Life :
CAPTAIN REGINALD WHITMORE PEPYS. 2nd BATTN. WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT. was the son of the Rev. Canon H. G. Pepys and Mrs Pepys, of Lynwood Church Crookham, Hants, and was born at Hallow Vicarage Worcester, on the 3rd January, 1883.Education & Career :
He was educated at Haileybury College and the R.M.C. Sandhurst, where he was in the running team. Captain Pepys was a member of the Junior Army and Navy Club. He married, on the 27th July 1914, just days before war was declared and he was sent to France, Maud Mae, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Foster, of Beechwood, Oxford. Reginald Pepys was a former member of the Aldershot Army and Navy Lodge No 1971, having joined in 1908 and resigned in 1913. He was not included in the 1921 Masonic Roll of Honour or subsquent revisions as technically he was not a member of a lodge when he was killed, therefore no Lodge Secretary could report his passing. He was however a Freemason and is therefore included in this project. He appears on a memorial in St Phillip & St James Church, Hallow Worcestershire, the church he was christened in. He is also shown on the Ellis Island records as arriving in the USA on the 'Teutonic' from Liverpool on 19/11/1903 aged 21. On that basis we believed he was 32 when he died, which was subsequently confirmed.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 2/Worcestershire Regiment |
| Action : The Battle of the Aisne 1914 and subsidiary actions |
12 - 15 September 1914. Following the defeat and retreat from the Marne, the German army stood and defended the next defensible river, the Aisne. This offered significant defensive potential on the high bluffs overlooking the river but the BEF succeeded in pushing back the Germans. The first examples of trench warfare emerged on the Aisne as trenches became necessary to offer protection from concentrated artillery barrages.
Detail :
He was mortally wounded on Sunday, the 20th September, 1914 at the Battle of the Aisne, while leading A Company, of which he was the Captain, in a very exposed position. He died the following day.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | St. Michael's No. 2253 E.C. | Barbados & E. Carbibean |
| Joined : | Aldershot Army and Navy No. 1971 E.C. | Hampshire & IOW |
| Joined : | An Irish Lodge No. 0 I.C. | Irish Constitution |
| Joined : | St. John & St. Paul No. 349 E.C. | Malta |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
18th July 1905 | 15th August 1905 | 17th October 1905 |
Initiated into St. Michaels Lodge No. 2253, Bridgetown Barbados in 1905. Became a joining member of Lodge of St. John and St. Paul No. 349 in Valetta, Malta. Further joined Aldershot Army & Navy Lodge No. 1971 in 1908.
He also joined Barbadori Lodge No 157 under the Irish Constitution on 30th March 1910, which may have been an ambulatory warrant for the West African Lodge, initially consecrated the Ormeau Lodge at Ballynafeigh, Co. Down (but struck out). He was a Lieutenant at the time with the West African Regiment. Resigned 1913
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