Private, service no. 26465, 2nd/5th Bn The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment).
Reginald was born in 1890 and was the son of Nicholas and Louisa Lucas of 3 Canute Road in the Highcliff area, which was then in the Parish of Chilcomb within. Father Nicolas was a bricklayer. In the 1891 census, it is recorded that Reginald had 3 brothers and 3 sisters and an adopted brother living with him in the Lucas household. Before Reginald was born the Lucas family had lived at 46 St Johns St, Winchester for many years.
In the 1901 census, the Lucas family is recorded as living at 66 Church Hill Street in the parish of St Peter Cheesehill. Reginald has 3 brothers (Alfred, William, and Archibald) and a sister (Gertrude), and one adopted son (George).
He married Jessie Lilian Westbrook in 1910 of 22 Wales Street, Winchester. In the 1911 census, he was living as a boarder at 69 canon street Winchester and listed as a Billposter. Jessie is still living with her parents at 78 Wales St.
Reginald enlisted on the 12th of February 1917 at Winchester, joining the Devonshire regiment, but was transferred to The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment). He served in France and was reported missing, believed Killed in action, on November 21st, 1917.
Reginald is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord, France (PR Panel 6 and 7.) and on a memorial plaque at St John the Baptist, close to St Giles Hill graveyard.
There is also a memorial inscription on the family grave in St Giles Hill Graveyard. It reads as follows:
“In loving memory of our dear brother William Arthur LUCAS who died September 22nd, 1921 aged 35 years and my dear husband Montague MATHIAS lost on the S.S. Titanic April 15, 1912, aged 28, and of dear mother Louisa LUCAS who died Aug. 30, 1902, aged 52”
The reference to Reginald can be found on the lower left side of the monument opposite his mother Louisa.
Sister Gertrude was responsible for putting the commemorative inscription on the grave memorial. Gertrude’s husband Mathias Montague, and brother William, both seamen on the Titanic, are remembered on this monument. Mathias was lost on the Titanic, but William survived.
For their story please see this link to another page on this website: The Titanic memorial
2nd/5th Bn The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment):
The 2nd/5th Bn The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) were mobilised for war and landed in France in January 1917. During 1917 the battalion took part in a number of actions including Ancre (Feb/march), the battle of Arras (April/May), and the battle of Cambrai.
It is probable that Reginald died in the initial stage of the battle of Cambrai (November 1917). The battle of Cambrai was fought between 20 November – 30 December 1917. The offensive consisted of an assault against the German’s Hindenburg Line along a 10-mile (16-km) front. At dawn on 20 November 1917, the British Third Army launched a large-scale assault utilising the largest number of tanks yet assembled for the war. The attack was initially very successful with large gains by the 22nd of November. By the end of November, the assault had been halted and a subsequent German counter-attack regained much of the ground.
