DE SAULLES Reginald Frank

Reginald De Saulles was born at West Bromwich in 1890 and moved to Wollaston.  He attended Wollaston C of E School from 1898 to 1904 and by 1914 was living in Ridge Street.  He enlisted in the Worcesters and joined the 9th (Service) Battalion.  The battalion were in the 13th Division and had been since July 1915 in the Dardanelles until evacuation in December 1915.  They did not return to Britain, however, but were to continue the struggle against the Turks in Mesopotamia and, notably, to rescue General Townsend’s force besieged at Kut.  They arrived in February 1916 and attempted a relief in April.  The attempt failed and Townsend’s force went into captivity.  The next advance was left until cooler weather and the crucial attack on Kut was made by the Worcesters on the 25th January 1916.  Kut fell the next day but 107 men had been killed.  They included five Stourbridge men: Reginald De Saulles, Terry James, John Millward, Enoch Smith and Arthur Swadling.