JEFFERY, Reuben
No. G/13095, Lance Corporal, Reuben JEFFERY
Aged 23
"A" Coy., 6th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
formerly 14590. 4th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
Killed in Action on Thursday 3rd May, 1917
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Born Q1-1894, in Exning [Newmarket 3b:523], the only child of Frederick William and Thurza JEFFERY (née CRANE), one time of 4 Idare Cottages, Chapel Street,
Exning. 1901 census...Reuben [7] was at Crafton, nr Wing, Buckinghamshire with his father William[34], a groom, born Newmarket and his mother Thurza [34] born Exning 1911 census...Reuben [17] was now a domestic gardener, still living with his parents in Crafton. He later moved to Epsom, Surrey, where he became a motor driver. On attestation for the Army in Kingston he gave his address as 5 Woodcote Side Terrace, Epsom. The pension card has his mother at Hamilton Stud Cottages, Newmarket. |
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He enlisted for the 4th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment at Kingston on Thames on 21st October 1915 at the age of 21. Height 5'9" (175.3 cm),
chest 36" to 39.5" (91.4 to 100.3 cm), weight 150 pounds (68.3 kg), so seemingly a robust and fit man. Posted to the 4th East Surreys on 29th October 1915, he was promoted Acting Lance Corporal 4th February 1916. Posted to the BEF in France on 3rd October 1916 he joined the 12th battalion East Surreys at Etaples, France. As Lance Corporal he transferred on 17th October 1916 to the 6th Battalion, The Buffs. Posted missing on 3rd May 1917 eventually his death was presumed "on or after 3rd May 1917" Much of his surviving Army records is taken up with tracing his parents to send them his plaque and scroll and medals. One failed address was at 54 Horton Hill, Epsom, addressed to his mother. Another was to his father at 131 Stubbings Lane, Ramsbottom, Lancs. Whether his parents were ever at these addresses is not known, they were eventually tracked down to Hamilton Stud Cottages, Exning Road, Newmarket. He had no wife or siblings according to his Army records. There was also much correspondence within the Army to establish his rank was Lance Corporal. The 6th Battalion, The Buffs, were engaged in the 3rd Battle of the Scarpe at Monchy at this time. The order to attack on 3rd May came too late for proper reconnaissance, which was not going to assist the battalion later on. After a previous night in shell holes, the attack commenced at 3:45 am. "A" Coy on the right, "B" left, with "C" in support and "D" behind "B". An attempt was made to set up an advanced HQ at Devil's Trench, but as no communications could be established, this was called off. This lack of news meant that even at daylight, with firing and sniping, little information filtered back and it was not until dusk that it was realised how badly the battalion had suffered and that the front line was virtually the same. That evening, so many officers being casualties, 2 fresh officers were sent forward to try an re-organise what was left of the unit. They found that one objective, Keeling Copse, had been reached by about 40 men but they had become surrounded and had 3 lines of Germans between them and the rest of the battalion. They managed to hold all day and at night, having exhausted all their ammunition and bombs, managed to fight their way back. Just two 2nd Lts and 13 men survived to tell the tale. 30 men were killed, 128 wounded and over 200 were missing after this terrible day for the Buffs. At 4 am on 4th they were relieved and the next day managed to reorganise into just two companies of only two platoons each That was what was recorded at the time, since then according to CWGC, the death toll for the 6th battalion was put at 132, only 6 have identified graves. The 7th Battalion at Cherisy fared little better, they had 114 killed. |
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