Reeve Ronald H. Pte 14418040 - Revision history

70bgadmin at 10:00, 29 May 2025

2025-05-29T10:00:35Z

70bgadmin at 09:38, 29 May 2025

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70bgadmin at 09:29, 29 May 2025

2025-05-29T09:29:46Z

70bgadmin at 12:30, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:30:52Z

70bgadmin at 12:25, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:25:47Z

70bgadmin at 12:25, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:25:11Z

70bgadmin at 12:22, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:22:11Z

70bgadmin at 12:21, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:21:48Z

70bgadmin at 12:19, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:19:28Z

70bgadmin at 12:18, 24 March 2021

2021-03-24T12:18:40Z

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 From seeds the guns of war now sow
 With every round.
 Your leafy lanes now churned to dust
 And Frenchmen's homes to rot and
@@ Line 213: / Line 211: @@
 A forgotten hero in a forgotten grave
 Just one of the dead.
-The words and poems of Ron Reeve, 1TS and later 5BW written after the war.
-Page 4 of 5
+'''Private Reeve then added the following notes on his experiences.'''
-Ron: “The photograph at bottom right is one I brought
 home from the war. In July 1944 we were ‘holding the line’ at a
 place called JUVIGNY4 in FRANCE. It was a ‘quiet sector’ of the
@@ Line 243: / Line 242: @@
 eating and sleeping is to you and if we had allowed our minds to dwell upon it, it would have
 driven us insane within a week.
 I would like to say more on this subject but I can’t find the words to describe the horror
 of it all and, in any case, I find it too upsetting to think about it even now, nearly 50 years
@@ Line 248: / Line 248: @@
 could find relatives of this little girl who might want her photograph back but I never seem to get
 round to it”.
 A Bacon ‘Clanger’
-“I must now go back a bit to our lines. Immediately behind us was an t anti-tank t ditch
 which was about half a mile long, about 15 feet deep and about the same in width. The idea was
 that when tanks advanced, they would drop into the ditch and not be able to get out again. We
 didn’t dig it; it was already there when we got there. However, it was an ideal place in which to
 light a fire when we wanted to do any cooking.
 When I was at home my mother used to make a BACON CLANGER5 which was
 delicious, and I couldn’t get enough of it. Now when searching around this farmhouse we came
@@ Line 266: / Line 265: @@
 needed it. We put an army groundsheet on the ground and, with water from a nearby stream,
 mixed up a large piece of dough. We didn't have a rolling pin so we patted it flat with our
-(unwashed) hands. Amongst our rations was some tinned food known as MACCHONICHIES6
+(unwashed) hands. Amongst our rations was some tinned food known as MACCHONICHIES
 (I’m not sure if that is the correct spelling so I’ve written it phonetically) which included some
-tinned rashers of bacon. (It was all tinned food and very nice to. The AMBROSIA CREAMED RICE
+tinned rashers of bacon. (It was all tinned food and very nice too. The AMBROSIA CREAMED RICE
 which you buy today was originally the same make as the tinned bacon which the Ambrosia
 Company has copied).
 We spread the rashers over the dough, liberally mixed with onions (an essential part of a
 ‘clanger’ ) then rolled it all up ‘roly-poly' fashion and then wrapped it up in a piece of the sheet
@@ Line 285: / Line 285: @@
 size, I cooked it for 3 hours and it came out perfect. We had the feed of our lives.
 The Platoon Officer (Mr MURRAY) was particularly pleased with it and asked me to make
-another but before I could do so he was carted away on a stretcher with both his feet blown off7.
+another but before I could do so he was carted away on a stretcher with both his feet blown off.
-A great shame because he was a good Officer”.
+Probably by a ‘Schu-mine’. An anti -personnel mine used by the Germans and which caused
-A steamed Suet pudding made with bacon and onions.
+many casualties.  A great shame because he was a good Officer”.
-“Maconochie” was a stew of sliced turnips, carrots and potatoes in a thin broth, named for the
-Aberdeen Maconochie Company that produced it.
-Probably by a ‘Schu-mine’. An anti -personnel mine used by the Germans and which caused
 many casualties.

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 Ronald Reeve survived all this as he did the Rhine crossing and the battles that followed.  He went on leave at the very end of the war but never came back to the Battalion.  He was transferred to a transport unit as he was returning from leave. Bob was sure that not getting back to 5 BW was a bitter blow to him.  Of all the comrades in “A” company who landed with Ron on D-Day only one other survived to the end.
-It is always a joy to make contact with an old comrade and a reunion with our Reeve after all these years would have been rather special, but it was not to be.  In this instance the contact was with the family, nevertheless it was most rewarding to learn that a comrade, thought to have perished had, in fact, survived. From experience I know that families derive a great sense of fulfillment and pride when they learn things that they did not know about Dad’s War.  For the Reeve family it must have been a wonderful revelation to learn that their Father was regarded by his comrades as a hero – what greater praise could there be.
+It is always a joy to make contact with an old comrade and a reunion with our Reeve after all these years would have been rather special, but it was not to be.  In this instance the contact was with the family, nevertheless it was most rewarding to learn that a comrade, thought to have perished had, in fact, survived. From experience I know that families derive a great sense of fulfilment and pride when they learn things that they did not know about Dad’s War.  For the Reeve family it must have been a wonderful revelation to learn that their Father was regarded by his comrades as a hero – what greater praise could there be.
 Bob Reeve made contact with me through the 51st Highland Division website.  A full report of the battle for Hubermont is given there.
@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 We are most grateful to Bob Reeve for the additional information about, and photographs of, his late father.  According to the information, Corporal Reeve landed with 5th Black Watch on, or just after, D-Day and we do not yet have details of the point at which he was posted to the Tyneside Scottish, returning to the 5th Battalion on the disbandment of the Brigade.  Hopefully this will be explained in his Service Record.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 |Date of birth=Born 21/2/1925 - registered at Headington, Oxfordshire.  Mother's maiden surname Ridge.
 |Age=80 at the time of his death.
-|Unit=Served in the Local Defence Volunteers from the age of 14.  Enlisted - volunteered - into the General Service Corps 18/1/1943 - just prior to his 18th birthday.  Underwent Basic training at No. 59 Primary Training Centre.  Transferred to the Highland Regiment 15/4/1943, possibly for advanced Infantry Training.  Transferred to the Gordon Highlanders 16/6/1943.  Transferred to the  Black Watch 16/4/1944.  Posted to the 1st Tyneside Scottish 16/4/1944.  Served Normandy.  Posted to the 5th Battalion Black Watch on the disbandment of 70th Brigade.  Served North Western Europe.  Left the Black Watch 30/9/1947.  Relegated to the Class Z Army Reserve 30/9/47, authority IRO/Rels/158/47.  Demobilised.
+|Unit=Served in the Local Defence Volunteers from the age of 14.  Enlisted - volunteered - into the General Service Corps 18/1/1943 - just prior to his 18th birthday.  Underwent Basic training at No. 59 Primary Training Centre.  Transferred to the Highland Regiment 15/4/1943, possibly for advanced Infantry Training.  Transferred to the Gordon Highlanders 16/6/1943.  Transferred to the  Black Watch 16/4/1944.  Posted to the 1st Tyneside Scottish 16/4/1944 (but see note below).  Served Normandy.  Posted to the 5th Battalion Black Watch on the disbandment of 70th Brigade.  Served North Western Europe.  Left the Black Watch 30/9/1947.  Relegated to the Class Z Army Reserve 30/9/47, authority IRO/Rels/158/47.  Demobilised.
 |Company/Battery=Not yet known.
 |Platoon or other sub-unit=Not yet known.
@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 Dr. Tom Renouf MM

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:25, 24 March 2021
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	A further photograph of Corporal Reeve, post-war, is set out below:-		A further photograph of Corporal Reeve, post-war, is set out below:-

−	File:Ron_post_War.jpg\|600px\|thumb\|centre\| Corporal Reeve post-war.	+	[[File:Ron_post_War.jpg\|600px\|thumb\|centre\| Corporal Reeve post-war.]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:25, 24 March 2021
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	}}		}}

		+	A further photograph of Corporal Reeve, post-war, is set out below:-

		+	File:Ron_post_War.jpg\|600px\|thumb\|centre\| Corporal Reeve post-war.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 |Died/Killed in action=Death registered July 2005, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire.
 |Home address=At the time of the 1939 General Register he lived with his family at 66, Ridgefield Rd. Cowley Rd. Oxford, and worked as a Cabinet Maker's Clerk.  In October 1949 he married Ruth L. Ponting at Ploughley, Oxfordshire.
-|Image Name=File:1943-06_Ron_18yrs.jpg
+|Image Name=1943-06_Ron_18yrs.jpg
 |Image Title=Private Ron Reeve at 18 years of age.
 |Source table=1TS

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:19, 24 March 2021
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−	An article in the Regimental Journal - "The Red Hackle" by [Dr Tom Renouf http://70brigade.newmp.org.uk/wiki/Renouf_Thomas_J._Cadet_14427465] concerning Private Reeve is set out below.	+	An article in the Regimental Journal - "The Red Hackle" by Dr Tom Renouf [[http://70brigade.newmp.org.uk/wiki/Renouf_Thomas_J._Cadet_14427465]] concerning Private Reeve is set out below.

	'''A REUNION TOO LATE'''		'''A REUNION TOO LATE'''

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:18, 24 March 2021
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−	An article in the Regimental Journal - "The Red Hackle" by Dr Tom Renouf concerning Private Reeve is set out below.	+	An article in the Regimental Journal - "The Red Hackle" by [Dr Tom Renouf http://70brigade.newmp.org.uk/wiki/Renouf_Thomas_J._Cadet_14427465] concerning Private Reeve is set out below.

	'''A REUNION TOO LATE'''		'''A REUNION TOO LATE'''