Private 5727493, 7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. Died between 19/05/1940 and 12/06/1940. Age 21.

 

Born in Walton in 1919 the eldest son of Alfred Arthur Andrews and Effie Edith nee Wood. Reginald appears to be one of five children. Alfred died in 1930 & in 1939 the family are living at 22 Margaret Street, Walton. 

 

The 7th Battalion was formed following the outbreak of war & for the next few months were recruiting & training until they were sent to France in April 1940. The Fall of France; in six weeks from 10 May 1940 German forces defeated Allied forces by mobile operations, conquering France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, ending land operations on the Western Front until the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944. Having suffered heavy losses at Amiens the 7th were forced to evacuate & return to the UK. 850 private boats assisted in the evacuation of 336,000 Allied soldiers between the 26th May and 6th June 1940. Reginald was reported missing & later dead between the 19th May & 12th June 1940, he is commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial. The 7th Battalion was disbanded in 1942.