"It is no longer a question of aiming at breaking through the enemy's front and aiming at distant objectives. It is now a question of wearing down and exhausting the enemy's resistance"
Agreed statement of intent - Allied Military Representatives 1917
Reginald Jarvis was the son of William and Mary Ann Jarvis of London Road, Riverhead. He had one brother, William Leonard and two sisters, Maud and Florence Annie. The first three children were born in Herne Hill, London. His brother and sister were baptised together at St Mary's Church on 21 August 1901. At the time of the 1901 census Florence had not been born but the rest of the family was shown as residing in Linden Square. The Jarvis family had an "oil and colour" shop next to the Patch that is adjacent to Linden Square.
He enlisted in Brighton in the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. His records did not survive and so there is little further information.
The Battalion diary (see the link below) records his Battalion preparing for and executing a raid on a salient known as the Hollandscheshuur Salient. This raid was carried out on 24th February 1917 and resulted in Reginald's death. It was led by a Captain E Bird who was also killed in the raid. 26 of the Battalion were killed, 91 wounded and 11 were missing at the time of the diary being written.