Date de naissance: 22/10/1890

Lieu de naissance: Selston, Nottinghamshire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Profession: Agriculteur

Pays: Canada

Force armée: Canadian Expeditionary Force

Rang: Private

Numéro de service: 781462

Incorporation date: 17/12/1915

Incorporation nom de lieu: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

Unités:  —  Canadian Infantry, 28th Bn. (North West)  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 11/11/1917

Lieu de décès: Lijssenthoek, Remy Siding, No. 17 Casualty Clearing Station, Belgique

Cause du décès: Died of wounds (D.O.W.)

Âge: 27

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Private Reginald Lee Hand served in the Canadian Infantry 28th Battalion, which was part of the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Canadian Division.
The 27th, 31st and 28th Battalion of the 6th Brigade, together with the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Canadian Division, attacked the village of Passchendaele on November 6 1917. At 6.00 a.m. on the morning of the 6th of November 1917 the allied artillery opened up an incredibly heavy barrage on the crest of the Passchendaele Ridge. The ground between the trenches and the objective for the 28th Battalion was wet and muddy. The attack was accompanied with an enormous amount of shellfire on both sides, but the swampy nature of the ground made a lot of shells to misfire. The Germans defended the Passchendaele ridge with machinegun fire from pill-boxes, situated at strategic points as crossroads and in ruined farms.
The German main line of defence ran along the Passchendaele-Mosselmarkt Road. This line however lacked the protection of concrete dug-outs and many Germans were killed due to the allied barrage, others were seen fleeing from the line. Notwithstanding the heavy machine gun fire the advancing troops pressed on, outflanking and clearing the pill-boxes. By 7.40 a.m. all Companies had reached their objectives. Consolidation was completed shortly after 10.00 a.m.
The Battalion suffered 35 casualties during the attack, but suffered more losses due to German shelling once they had reached their objective. On top of this the Canadian troops were frequently strafed by German aeroplanes. Parties of stretcher bearers encountered great difficulties in evacuating the wounded, due to the shelling and the ghastly state of the ground.
Private Reginald Lee Hand was gravely injured during the attack of November 6 1917. He sustained shrapnel wounds to his right leg and was evacuated to No. 17 Casualty Clearing Station, Remy Siding at the hamlet of Lijssenthoek. Five days later, on November 11 1917, Reginald Lee Hand succumbed to his wounds and was buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.

Dewitt G.E., The Story of the Twenty-Eight (Northwest) Battalion, 1914-1917, (London, Charles & Son, s.d), pg. 22-24. Sources utilisées

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 137-139. Sources utilisées

Personnel Records of the First World War (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC) RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4007 - 9). https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/search.aspx Sources utilisées

War diaries: 28th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 4935, Microfilm reel number: T-10739--T-10740, File number: 425). https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/432406

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=0feb366b-cff7-4bda-a609-a90a675d3d17

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5920211

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/432406