Inscription on Menin Gate

Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-

Born in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne on 25th June 1884, and baptised in August, Arthur was the middle son of Alnwick born tailor George and Elizabeth Jane (nee Rowley) Reed, his older brother was George born in 1882 and the younger, Walter born in 1888. After his father’s retirement the family moved to live in Warkworth, with Arthur remaining living with his parents whilst working as an accountant for the NE Railway.

Arthur emigrated to Canada in 1913 and settled in St. John, New Brunswick where he easily found work as an accountant. He enlisted as P rivate742147 with the 115th Battalion CEF at St John on 3rd December 1915. Within a few days, his previous experience as an accountant helped him get appointed to orderly room clerk. At the end of April 1916 he went to officers’ training school, completing the course on 5th June and he was then discharged from the CEF as a private, in order to be appointed, to the same battalion, as a commissioned officer at the camp at Valcartier, Quebec, where he signed his Officer’s Declaration Form on 15th July.

The 115th sailed to England in July 1916, arriving in Liverpool at the end of the month, and a posting to camp at Bramshott, Hampshire, where in October Arthur was appointed battalion assistant adjutant, first to the 112th Battalion and then the 26th Reserve. In August 1917 he was posted to the Royal Canadian Regiment and proceeded with them to France as part of the 7th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. Joining the Battalion at Lens, Lieutenant Reed then attended a Gas Course at Hersin, re-joining his men two weeks later on 2nd September.

On 30th October 1917, the 9th Infantry Brigade was tasked with attacking the Bellevue Spur, southwest of Passchendaele, with the RCR was in reserve. The battalion's main tasks were as stretcher bearers, and supplying food and ammunition to the front. Lieutenant Reed’s role was to maintain communications with other troops before the attack. His Circumstances of Death form reads “during an attack on enemy positions west of Passchendaele at about 1.30am, October 30th, he, accompanied by a non-commissioned officer and a runner, went to get communications on the right flank of the battalion. On the way back Lieutenant Reed was hit in the head, and instantly killed by an enemy sniper’s bullet”.

Arthur Reed's remains were recovered and buried in a registered grave, but when the battlefield was later cleared, either his remains could not be located, or they were found, but could not be positively identified.

Arthur Reed is remembered in Warkworth on W16.01 and W16.03

In Canada he is remembered on their Virtual War Memorial and in their Book of Remembrance.

Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual Memorial
The CWGC entry for Lieutenant Reed