DRAFT

Reginald John Bernard (Reggie) Hollins was born on 21 March 1896 in Swansea. He was the son of George and Charlotte Poole Hollins.

The first record of Reggie is at the age of 5 in the 1901 census. He is living with his family at 138 St Helens Ave, Swansea. The census gives additional information about his parents, they were both born in the Midlands, George in Wolverhampton and Charlotte in Dudley and George was listed as a cooper (barrel maker).

By 1911, the family had moved to 5 Westbury Terrace, Swansea. Reggie was 15 and had started work as a Clerk at a Coppersmiths. George was still a cooper, working for a brewer.

Reggie joined the 1st Welsh (Howitzers) just before his 17th birthday and at the start of the Great War was mobilised. He would have seen little of his family (other than a few short periods of leave) until he was demobilized at the end of the war.

In December 1919, Reggie married Kathleen Elizabeth German in Swansea and by the time of 1921 census, Reggie and Kathleen had welcomed their first child, Nora. The family were still living at 5 Westbury Terrace and Reggie was working as a Plumber at the National Oil Refinery in Skewen.

In the 1939 Register, the family was still at 5 Westbury Terrace and Reggie now described himself as a Master Plumber & Sanitary Engineer and was also listed as a member of the Swansea Special Constabulary.

On 27 April 1948, shortly after the Second World War, Reggie and Kathleen travelled on the SS Mauretania from Southampton to New York to join their daughter and her husband in Mount Rainier, Maryland. On the US immigration form, Reggie was described as 5 foot 10 inches, grey brown hair, blue eyes, a fresh complexion and a deformation of the 1st & 2nd fingers of his right hand – possibly a war or industrial injury.

By 1950, Reggie and Kathleen have settled in Chillum, St Georges, Maryland and George had resumed work as a plumber.

Reginald John Bernard Hollins died at the age of 76 in August 1972 in Hyattsville, Prince Georges, Maryland. He was survived by his wife.

Reggie Hollins enlisted as a Gunner in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade, sometime between Jan and Mar 1913. Unfortunately, his service record was destroyed during the Blitz, but it is possible to piece together elements of his service using the surviving scraps of information.

Gnr Hollins joined the Territorial Force just before his 17th birthday and he would have attended regular drill sessions in the evenings and an annual summer camp.

When war was declared in 1914, it is likely that he was already at summer camp on Salisbury Plain, and he would have swiftly returned to Swansea with the rest of the Brigade.

The Brigade then travelled to Shrewsbury, where they stayed for 3 weeks and then moved onto Northampton at the start of September 1914.

At this time, members of the Brigade were asked to volunteer to serve overseas, which was known as Imperial Service. This was required because soldiers of the Territorial Force volunteered to protect the coast of Great Britain, freeing up the regular army to serve overseas.

Gnr Hollins did sign an Imperial Service form in September 1914, but because he was 18 at the time, he was posted to the 2nd Line. This was due to a regulation within the British Army that soldiers were unable to undertake Active Service until they were 19 and so he would have remained with the 2nd Line until he reached 19 and there was a space in the Brigade.

The 2nd Line moved around the country to places including Winchester and Croydon, until they moved to their final positions in East Anglia. A postcard of a now promoted Cpl Hollins from Winchester has survived.

Cpl Hollins did ultimately see active service, but no records have survived to state where. Members of the Brigade served in Egypt, France, Salonika and Mesopotamia.

A second portrait taken on 27 March 1917, shows him wearing the 3 stripes of a Sergeant.

For his service in the Great War, Reggie Hollins was awarded the British War Medal, Victory Medal and Territorial Force War Medal (recognizing that he did volunteer for Imperial Service, but was unable to serve overseas in 1915).