Arthur Reynolds’ short but life-changing war

 258 Pte Arthur Thomas Reynolds, 7^th Infantry Battalion

Leader, 19 June 1915

Arthur Reynolds is remembered on the Brunswick Town Hall Honour Roll.

Arthur Thomas Reynolds was born on 14 January 1895 in Hobart, Tasmania. He was the second of the six children of Charles Frederick and Caroline Sarah (nee Miles) Reynolds. His parents, both of English descent, were born in Hobart and married there in 1893, with Charles working as a brick merchant. They had three children in Hobart – Eveline in 1893, Arthur and Max in 1899. The family then moved to Victoria around 1903 and settled in Carlton, living at 88 Berkeley Street, with Charles now working as a painter. Two more children were born in Carlton - Jean in 1907 and Charles in 1909.

In November 1907, Arthur and his brother Max both survived diphtheria, after spending three weeks in the Queens Memorial Infectious Disease hospital. The next year, Arthur, aged 13, started an apprenticeship as a french polisher with Richardson and Adams, cabinetmakers based in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. In 1909 the family moved to Brunswick, living at 129 Davies Street. Here, in 1913, their youngest son John was born.

In the same year as his youngest brother was born, Arthur, now 18, joined the Militia, presumably as part of the compulsory service that was then in place. He would have expected to serve just 16 days a year for the next 7 years, but 13 months after joining, on 14 August 1914, Arthur enlisted in the AIF and was assigned to the 7^th Battalion. He was now aged 19 years and 7 months, still working as a french polisher and living in Davies Street with his family. He was assigned the rank of Private.

 

Anzac Landing AWM AO5774

Arthur had a short but lifechanging war. On the fateful 25 April 1915, at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, he was struck on his right temple by a shrapnel bullet. The bullet passed through his brain and lodged in his skull. He was unconscious for 4-5 days and was transported to the No. 17 General Hospital in Alexandria, then to a convalescent depot in Mustafa to board the hospital ship “Nevasa”, on which he was sent to England on 16 May. He had an initial loss of memory which lasted four weeks. On arrival in England, Arthur was hospitalised at Birmingham, his injury categorised as “severe”. On 8 June he underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his head. This resulted in a hole in his right temporal bone that was to plague him for the rest of his life.

Arthur spent nearly 6 months in hospitals in England, first Birmingham then convalescing at Stourbridge Hospital, before being sent back to Australia on the “Runic” on 7 November. He arrived in Melbourne on 21 December 1915.

More on Arthur's story in a later post...

Researched and written by Vicki Skidmore, Brunswick Community History Group (BCHG) volunteer.

This work was completed as part of a BCHG project looking into the lives of the 55 Brunswick 7^th Battalion men who left Melbourne with the first convoy on board the Hororata on 19 October 1914.