We remember Acting Corporal Frederick Reed of the 13th Bttn. Durham Light Infantry who died of illness on 22nd December 1917 aged 34. The Reeds originated in the south of the county at Pury End, but Frederick was born at Alveston, near Stratford upon Avon where his father was landlord of the Exchange Inn. Frederick became a stable boy at Kiftsgate Court (now the home of world-famous gardens), a jockey and then a groom, marrying in London in 1907. Frederick, and his wife and three children, moved to Church Street, Weedon between 1911 and 1915, when he was accepted into the Army Veterinary Corps. Two favourable references exist in his soldier’s file confirming his skill with horses. In September 1917 he was transferred to the DLI, moving with his battalion to Italy a couple of months later. In weather that was described as snowy, wet and misty, he developed pneumonia and was transferred to the 24th Casualty Clearing Station base, then based at Istrana, about 7 miles west of Treviso. He died at the CCS three days later. He is buried in the attractive Giavera British Cemetery having been moved with a great “level of care and reverence” from the burial site attached to the Casualty Clearing Station. His family subsequently moved to Chesham in Buckinghamshire, having been awarded a pension of 30s 10d a week for his wife and the three children. He is remembered on the village War Memorial and on the Memorial Plaque (although misspelt) in St Peter’s Church.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 09:39:01 +0000
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