He was the first-born of George and Annie Reeve, and was single at the time of his death. He was born in Wollaston, Worcestershire, in 1890, and had 6 other siblings. In 1916 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal but as his service record did not survive (the WW2 bombings) it is not known what he did to get this award nor anything else about his war effort other than that he entered the theatre of war on 19 August 1914. There is no known photograph of him.

Richard Boyles