REECE, JOSEPH FREDERICK, third son of Richard Marsden Reece, Furnival’s Inn, London, attorney, and Caroline, third dau. of William Henry Smith, London, and Bournemouth, Hampshire, founder of W. H. Smith & Son, newsagents; b. 12 Jul 1853; adm. 21 Jun 1867 (G); QS 1868; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1872, matr. 23 May 1872; BA 1877; adm. solicitor Sep 1880; practised at Westgate on Sea, Kent; m. 4 Feb 1893 Jessie Ida, elder dau. of Joseph Alfred Dare, London, “merchant’s clerk” (1881 Census); d. 29 Apr 1931.

Reed, Charles Gordon, brother of Roland William Reed (q.v.); b. Feb. 7, 1889; adm. Sept. 25, 1902 (G); left July 1908; Brasenose Coll. Oxon., matric. Michaelmas 1908; scholar; B.A. 1911; served in France in Great War I; temp. Capt. 11th Batt. K.R.R.C. Sept. 2, 1916; wounded Sept. 1918; M.C. Jan. 1, 1918; for many years an asst. master at Wixenford School, Wokingham, Berks., and later joint Head Master with Geoffrey George Fenner Greig (q.v.); d. Feb. 6, 1955.

Reed, Michael, son of Harry Leslie Reed, Roy. Coll. Colombo, Sri Lanka, sometime asst. master at the Sch.; b. 4 Jan. 1914; adm. Sept. 1926 (G); left July 1930; a hotelier; m. 1943 Gladys Eva, d. of James Hart of Muswell Hill.

Reed, Richard Gordon, son of Roland William Reed (qv); b. 28 Apr. 1918; adm. Sept. 1931 (G); left July 1936; 2nd Lieut. North Stafford Regt (TA) July 1937, Lieut. Jan. 1939, Capt. July 1945, despatches (Burma) Dec. 1943, TD Apr. 1951; Lieut. North Staffora Regt (perm. commission) Nov. 1945, Capt. July 1946, Maj. Sept. 1952; retd Aug. 1968; asst sec. REME Corps Secretariat 1968-70; Adj. Longmoor and Bordon Garrison 1970-81; m. 2 Dec. 1941 Margaret Stewart, d. of Alexander Stewart Macmillan MB, of Camberley, Surrey; d. 16 Apr. 1984.

Reed, Roland Anthony, brother of Richard Gordon Reed (qv); b. 29 Dec. 1920; adm. Sept. 1934 (G); left Dec. 1938; RMC Sandhurst, 2nd Lieut. Roy. Tank: Regt May 1940, Lieut. Nov. 1941; killed in action (Libya) 31 Dec. 1941.

Roland Anthony Reed was born at Clifton Campville, Staffordshire on the 29th of December 1920 the second son of the Reverend Roland William Reed and Claudia Mary (nee Poore) Reed of The Rectory, Clifton near Tamworth in Staffordshire. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from September 1934 to December 1938. He entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1939 before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment on the 11th May 1940. He was posted to the 8th Royal Tank Regiment and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 11th of November 1941.
On the 30th of December 1941, the 8th Royal Tank Regiment was in camp at Bir Bu Tabel when they received orders at 6pm to make an attack on Bardia Fortress the following morning in support of the 3rd South African Infantry Brigade. A, B and C Squadrons left camp a short time later in three columns and arrived at their assembly point at 8.45pm that night.
The supporting artillery barrage began at 4.15am on the morning of the 31st of December 1941 with C Squadron arriving at the forward assembly area at 5.15am. Their tanks began moving forward though gaps in the minefields, which had been cleared by the Royal Engineers, at 6.30am. A short time later they received a message from B Squadron reporting that the infantry were being held up by enemy machine guns and were requesting assistance. Two tanks, those of Richard Reed and Major Peter Norman Veale, went forward to attack the enemy positions but when they arrived there the enemy appeared to have withdrawn and they returned to rejoin the Squadron. At 9am, it was reported that two of the three main enemy strong points had been silenced but that a third was still active and the infantry could not locate its exact position. A soon as Richard Reed’s tank went forward to assist it received a direct hit from the enemy strong point and caught fire. The tank commanded by Sergeant Barrett met the same fate immediately afterwards. Sergeant Barrett ran across to Richard Reed’s burning tank and managed to rescue the driver and the radio operator before making for cover. The rest of the crew perished. The enemy gun position was knocked out by Peter Veale a few minutes later. With no infantry support available from the South Africans, the rest of C Squadron withdrew.
The Regiment’s objectives were taken by noon but an enemy counterattack began at 12.40pm, which was driven off by 5pm after heavy fighting. The surviving tanks from the Regiment withdrew for the night at 11.30pm.
He is buried at Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery, Joint Grave 3 E 9.

Reed, Roland William, son of the Rev. William Reed, Rector of Clifton Campville, Staffs, by Clothilde Josephine, daughter of J.J. Roland, of Secy-en-Varais, Besançon, Franche Comté, France; b. June 12, 1886; adm. as exhibitioner Sept. 27, 1900 (G); left (with Triplett) July 1905; Ch. Ch. Oxon., matric. Michaelmas 1905; B.A. 1910 M.A. 1912; ordained 1910; Curate of St. Mary's, Dover, Kent, 1910-3, of Clifton Campville 1913-5; Rector of Clifton Campville 1915; temp. C.F. July 5, 1918; m. May 17, 1916, Claudia Mary, daughter of Major-Gen. Francis Harwood Poore, R.M.A.; d. Sept. 6, 1940.

Reed, William John, brother of Richard Gordon Reed (qv); b. 22 Jan. 1926; adm. Sept. 1939 (G); left Apr. 1944; 2nd Lieut. RE Jan. 1946, Lieut. (perm. commission) Nov. 1947, Capt. Jan. 1953, psc 1957, Maj. Jan. 1960, Lieut. -Col. June 1967, Col. June 1971, Brig. Dec. 1977, retd. Sept. 1980; founder and dir. Aldershot Military Historical Trust and Museum; m. 22 Dec. 1953 Enid Patricia, d. of Brig. Richard Hennis Olpherts Coryton CBE; d. 9 Feb. 1992.

Reeson, Dennis Owston, son of Joseph Newell Reeson, C.E., of Beckton, Essex and Louisa Mary; b. Nov. 10, 1896; adm. Sept. 23, 1909 (G); left Dec. 1913; m. July 29, 1922, Elfrida Cutts, daughter of F. W. Poolman, of Melbourne, Australia; d. Nov. 19, 1928.

Reitlinger, Gerald Roberts, son of Albert Reitlinger, of South Kensington; b. March 2, 1900; adm. Sept. 25, 1913 (G); left July 1918; Slade School of Art, 1919-20; Ch. Ch. Oxon., matric. Trinity 1920; B. Litt. 1923; a painter; author of A Tower of Skulls (1932), South of the Clouds (1939), The Final Solution (1953), The SS. Alibi of a Nation (1956), The House built on Sand (1959), and the Economics of taste (1961); d. 8 Mar. 1978.

REPTON, EDWARD EARDLEY HARRIS, eldest son of Rev. Edward Repton, Prebendary of Westminster, and Minister of St. Philip’s, Regent Street, London, and Mary Ellis, dau. of Joseph Herbert, Governor of Montserrat, West Indies; b. 18 Sep 1809; adm. 12 Jan 1820 (G); left 1821; Writer, EICS Bengal 1827; arrived in India 27 Sep 1828; Assistant to Magistrate and Collector, Cuttack 1829; Magistrate and Collector, Pooree; Assistant Superintendent, Tributary States of Keonjhar 1840; returned to England 1843; m. 5 Apr 1831 Mary Henrietta, eldest dau. of H. Thompson, Bedford Square, London; d. 15 Aug 1843.