Reginald George Jackson
Reginald George Jackson was born 28 November 1897 in Bedfordshire, England. He was the oldest son of 7 children (2 girls, 5 boys) of George and Ruth Jackson, originally of Bedfordshire, England. Sometime after the 1911 England Census, the family emigrated to Canada and at the time of Reginald’s enlistment were living on St Paul Street in Lindsay ON.
On 22 December 1915, Reginald enlisted with the 109th Battalion in Lindsay ON, and was listed as a Bugler with A Company. He was subsequently transferred to the 38th Battalion. His father, George, is noted in the newspaper as serving with a Forestry battalion in France at the time of Reginald’s death, but his exact service details are not known.
On 11 August 1917, Reginald was on duty as the gas sentry at battalion headquarters near La Coulotte. This soldier would stand near a large drum, called the Gas Gong, and watch the horizon for clouds of gas riding from exploding shells. The 38th Battalion noted that there was heavy shelling on this day, and that La Coulotte was shelled in the morning and afternoon by heavy guns, throughout the region. One of these shells exploded very near to Reginald, and he was listed as being instantly killed by enemy shell fire.
Reginald Jackson was originally buried in Chinook Cemetery, which was destroyed during later battles in the area. His remains were removed and finally buried in La Chaudière Military Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France. He was 19 years old.
