SHAPLAND, Reginald Reed
| Service Number: | 968 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 February 1915, Korumburra, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Light Trench Mortar Battery |
| Born: | Crediton, Devon, England, 4 August 1894 |
| Home Town: | Jeetho, South Gippsland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Crediton Haywards School, Devon |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Bullecourt, France , 4 May 1917, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Korumburra War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 968, Korumburra, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 968, 24th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 968, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 25 Oct 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 968, 21st Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 25 Aug 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 2nd Light Trench Mortar Battery |
Help us honour Reginald Reed Shapland's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Douglas Booth
Reginald Reed Shapland
1st AIF Service No: 968
Reginald was born on 4 August 1894 at Crediton in Devon, England to Edwin John and Louise Shapland, nee Reed. He emigrated to Australia (where his brother Percy had settled) in about 1911, with his parents and other siblings. He enlisted on 3 February 1915 with He was assigned to the 21st Battalion, 6th Trench Mortar Battery, AIF and was given the Service Number 968. He was training at the Broadmeadows camp in Melbourne when news came of his brother Percy’s death from gunshot wounds at Gallipoli.
He embarked in Melbourne on 8 May 1915 per HMAT Ulysses for Egypt. After a period of training there he was sent to Anzac Cove.
Reginald survived his posting to Gallipoli, sending a postcard of the scene back to his parents at Jeetho, near Korumburra in Victoria. After fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula, he was posted to France, landing in Marseilles, where he joined the 6th Trench Mortar Battery.
Accounts of his death from fellow members of his battery varied, but it seems likely that Reginald, known to his mates as “Chappie”, died instantly from his wounds, almost certainly as a result of a sniper’s bullet to his head on 4 May 1917, two years to the day after his brother Percy’s death. He died in the field near Bullecourt, France and although unable to be buried immediately due to the heat of battle, was doubtless buried soon afterwards. His fellow soldier, T O’Riley referred to the action being by the wire at the first Hindenberg line at Bullecourt stating, following Reginald’s death that “the ground was held”.
Compiled by Doug Booth, douglas.booth@alumni.unimelb.edu.au
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He is one of three Australian Great War casualties remembered on the Crediton War Memorial, one of whom is his brother. This is to be found on Crediton High Street (A377) and takes the form of an open sided shelter.
He was in the local Crediton Boy Scouts.
Click images to start slideshow.