Reginald Arthur Drake – 46b North Street

Reginald Alfred was born in Derby in 1895 but lived in Stamford from at least 1900 so must have gone to school here. His father, Henry, originated from Rutland and his mother, Margaret, from Bedfordshire. His two elder brothers, Harold and Edgar, were both born in Fulham and his younger sister, Doris, in Stamford.

Henry Drake had been a Prudential Insurance Agent however by 1911 he had his own Grocer’s Shop at 46B North Street and both his wife and Reginald were ‘assisting in the business’. The two elder sons were both working as law clerks, one in Stamford and one in Chesterfield, and Doris was still at school.

All three of the sons served in the war –

Edgar Thomas joined up as a signalman in the Royal Navy Volunteers.

Harold joined the Royal Engineers and served as a Sapper and Reginald joined the Machine Gun Corps.

Reginald was wounded in the 3rd Battle of Ypres and died of his wounds on the 22nd August 1917 – he was 22 years old.

He is commemorated in the Tyne Cot Memorial and on the Stamford War Memorial.

The Tyne Cot Memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery and commemorates nearly 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom and New Zealand who died in the Ypres Salient after 16 August 1917 and whose graves are not known. The memorial stands close to the farthest point in Belgium reached by Commonwealth forces in the First World War until the final advance to victory.

R A Drake on Tyne Cot Memorial

Tyne Cot Memorial