2nd Lieutenant Reginald Cyrus Tokely
2nd Battalion, (56th) (Pompadours), Essex Regiment
Died of Wounds
Date of Birth: 21 July 1896
Place of Birth: Bromley, Kent
Date of Death: 23 December 1916 aged 20
Buried: Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, France. Remembered on Seafront Memorial and St James’ Church Memorial Window, Teignmouth, Devon.
Awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal
2nd Lieutenant Reginald Cyrus Tokely age 20.
Reginald was born on 21 July 1896 and baptized on 10 July 1898 in Bromley, Kent, the son of Cyrus Legg Tokely and his wife Ellen Francis (neé Haswell).
The 1901 census showed him living with his parents in Bromley.
In 1911 he was living at ‘Sunnylands’, Landscore Road, Teignmouth with his mother and her cousin.
Essex Regiment cap badge
He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and on 23 November 1915, Reginald was gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant with 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment.
He was awarded the War and Victory medals.
His next of kin was recorded as his father C L Tokely of 41 Coleman Street, London EC2, he was their only child.
Reginald died of wounds whilst fighting with 2nd Battalion on 23 December 1916 and was buried at Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, France.
Remembered on Seafront Memorial and St James’ Church Memorial Window, Teignmouth, Devon.
Grave Inscription reads: “Militants who fought thy valour best angels in heaven know the rest”.
The Mud of Pickardy
Heavy rain set in on the 10th December 1916 and the 2nd Essex had no shelter from the weather, they were in the front line and being shot at.
This man on the left has just been extricated from the mud into which he had sunk up to the arm pits. National Earnest Brookes. Library of Scotland License CC BY 4.0
Two officers and 77 other ranks were stuck in the mud whilst moving over the top of the ground, two platoons and two Lewis guns were lost.
Three days later an officer and over 70 men were still noted as missing and it was not until the 19th that the bulk of them reported, probably from field ambulances.
76 men were evacuated to hospital and large numbers were treated by the Battalion medical officer.
Frost on the 15th meant fires could be lit to dry soddened clothing and another 70 men were sent to hospital.
