Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Reginald Clive Mottershead was born in 1893, the son of Francis William Mottershead, an engineer, and Eliza Ann Mottershead (1). The family resided at “Addswood” on Ross Street in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, where Reginald’s early years were spent (2). He attended Parramatta Superior Public School before enrolling at Sydney Technical High School in 1909 or 1910 (3). Being an academically inclined individual, he later moved to Parramatta High School to complete his education. 

Prior to the War, Reginald Clive Mottershead was an academically inclined person, following in the intellectual footsteps of his father, who worked as an engineer. His brother, Kenneth Raymond Mottershead, followed in the household pattern of intellectuals, working as a bookkeeper before ultimately enlisting in the War as well (4). R

Reginald Clive Mottershead enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 25th of August 1915 (5). After initial training, Reginald embarked from Australia on the 2nd of November 1915 as part of the 11th reinforcements for the 3rd Battalion, and was sent to Egypt (6). Shortly after his arrival, he was met with illness, leading to his admission to an auxiliary hospital in Cairo on the 26th of December (7). After recovering, he was discharged to duty in Helouan 18th January 1916 and was later stationed at the large base depot in Tel-El-Kebir (8). In March, his battalion was redeployed to the Western Front, and Mottershead arrived in France on the 3rd of August 1916 (9). Thirteen days later, on the 16th of August, during the Battle of Pozières in the Somme Valley, he was wounded in action (10).

The battle was a difficult fight for Australian forces, where they suffered many casualties. After recovering from his physical wounds, he returned to the front lines, however he suffered a great psychological toll. He endured a further two months in the trenches near Flers, an experience he later described in an interview, where he was ‘dug out of the earth’ and ‘buried for two hours after a big burst up’, a near-death encounter that left him psychologically unfit (11). This trauma led to his diagnosis of neurasthenia, or shell shock, and he was transported to England, where he was admitted to the Southern General Hospital on the 9th of November 1916 (12).

Declared medically unfit for further service due to shell shock, Reginald Clive Mottershead returned to Australia on the 21st of July 1917 and was formally discharged from the AIF in Sydney on the 16th of October (13). Reginald was issued the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal for his service, as well as pension for his condition (14). Despite the immense challenges back in Australia, he tried to build a new life. On the 2nd of May 1918, he married Maud Docker in Parramatta (15).The specific details of his employment and further achievements are unclear.

Reginald Clive Mottershead passed away on the 5th of June 1950, at the age of 57 (15). 

Bibliography

MOTTERSHEAD Reginald Clive, Research on Google Drive (drive.google.com)
World War One – Parramatta Soldiers – Private Reginald Clive Mottershead (ancestors.familysearch.org)
Virtual War Memorial | Reginald Clive MOTTERSHEAD
National Archives Australia (recordsearch.naa.gov.au)
Private Reginald Clive Mottershead | Australian War Memorial (www.awm.gov.au)
Reginald Clive Mottershead (1893–1950) - FamilySearch (ancestors.familysearch.org)

World War One – Parramatta Soldiers – Private Reginald Clive Mottershead | Parramatta History and Heritage (historyandheritage.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au)

Endnotes
(1)- MOTTERSHEAD Reginald Clive document, courtesy of google drive provided by Sydney Technical High School. Reginald Clive Mottershead (1893-1950).

(2)- IBID, (1)

(3)-IBID, (1)

(4)- MOTTERSHEAD KR brother document, courtesy of google drive provided by Sydney Technical High School

(5)- IBID, (1)

(6)- MOTTERSHEAD 01 SERVICE.jpg Record document, courtesy of google drive provided by Sydney Technical High School

(7)- IBID, (6)

(8)- IBID, (6)

(9)- IBID, (6)

(10)- IBID, (6)

(11)- MOTTERSHEAD 1917 interviewed.pdf document, courtesy of google drive provided by Sydney Technical High School

(12)- IBID, (6)

(13)- IBID, (6)

(14)- Naga Durga Devi Kona, Volunteer Research Assistant, Parramatta Council Heritage Centre, 2016. Reginald Clive Mottershead (1893-1950). Parramatta History and Heritage

(15)- Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 - 1950), Wednesday 15 May 1918. Document courtesy of google drive provided by Sydney Technical High School.