The consequences of Arthur Reynolds’ war

 

258 Pte Arthur Thomas Reynolds 7 Bn, was back in Australia in time for Christmas 1915. He now suffered from persistent headaches, giddiness and fainting attacks, and would experience these types of issues for the rest of his life. He was discharged as medically unfit on 1 April 1916 and granted a pension. He attempted to work, serving with the Home Guard at Government House, Melbourne from September 1916 but had to be discharged in December that year due to the head pain he suffered. Subsequent medical examinations eventuated in him being declared unfit to work, and he stayed living with his parents in Davies St., Brunswick.

Christ Church, St Kilda, courtesy St Kilda Historical Society

Around 1921 Arthur met Ruth Helen Noak and they married on 11 February 1922 at Christ Church in St Kilda, both aged 27. Arthur has spent some time bayside in late 1921 and believed his health issues had benefited from the “change in air”, so perhaps this is why Arthur left Brunswick and he and Ruth moved in with her parents in Carlisle Street, St Kilda. Ruth had been born in England and emigrated with her family as a child. Her older brother, also Arthur, had been killed at Bullecourt in France in 1917, so one could assume that she and her family had compassion for what Arthur had suffered.

Around this time, Arthur’s parents also moved from Brunswick to the bayside area, living in Mordialloc until their deaths.

Later in 1922 Arthur and Ruth moved to Maxwell Street, Glen Iris where they bought a house in which they raised three sons – Gilbert (born 1923), Keith (born 1925) and Robert (born 1933). Despite his ongoing health issues, Arthur resumed working when he was physically able to, as a french polisher, while receiving regular medical care at Repatriation hospitals. Despite this regular care, Arthur’s condition continued to worsen, and between 1931 and 1944 he had three operations and other various medical treatments to attempt to alleviate the head pain he lived with, with limited success. He was again declared unfit to work and given a war pension.

 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, 1957. Victorian places website.

During World War Two, the family moved back to Carlisle Street, St Kilda. Ruth passed away in 1947, aged 53, and Arthur continued to live in the house, now with his son Kevin and, later, his wife. His three sons all married and between them gave Arthur seven grandchildren. In 1956 Arthur married Isabella Stiddard, a widow, and moved to Windsor.

Arthur died on the 16 February 1961, aged 67, at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, from renal failure that doctors believed was due to the war injury that he had suffered from for 45 years. He was cremated and his ashes interred at Springvale Cemetery next to his first wife Ruth.

In 1992 Arthur’s eldest son Gilbert, who had served in World War 2, claimed his father’s Anzac Commemorative Medal, which was issued in 1967 to those that survived Gallipoli.

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 7th Battalion men who left Melbourne with the first convoy on board the Hororata on 19 October 1914.

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.