SCOTT, Reynold John
| Service Number: | 1514 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 December 1914, Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Geelong, Victoria, Australia, January 1889 |
| Home Town: | Glenelg, Holdfast Bay, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Unknown Aged 80 years, 35 Mason Street, Port Elliot, 18 July 1969 |
| Cemetery: |
Currency Creek Cemetery, S.A. Section: General, Plot No 796 |
| Memorials: | Brighton Arch of Remembrance, Glenelg and District WW1 & WW2 Honour Board, Macclesfield ANZAC Memorial Gardens, Macclesfield Honour Roll WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Liverpool, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Feb 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1514, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Choon embarkation_ship_number: A49 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Feb 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1514, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Choon, Sydney | |
| 10 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 13th Infantry Battalion, Replaced Corporal William George Warne KIA | |
| 22 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 13th Infantry Battalion, Temporarily promoted until 7 September while Sergeant Clarence W Potts was hospitalised. | |
| 8 Sep 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 13th Infantry Battalion, Filled Sergeant Albert Edward Stevens position after he was promoted. | |
| 24 Feb 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
| 1 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1 |
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Biography contributed by Dara School
Reynold John Scott was born in Geelong, Victoria in January 1889. As a child he lived with his father Edward Dashwood Scott of Moorundie, a township on the Murray River, his mother Kathleen Helen Dundas who was from Millbrook, a small town in the Adelaide Hills (Ancestry.com, n.d.). He had four younger brothers and a younger sister (Australian Royalty, 2010). Other than his place of his birth and his family, not much else is known about Reynold’s life before the war. What is known about his early life is that he worked as a labourer, and that he lived at the house on 4 Lavender Street in North Sydney until the end of 1914, when he enlisted to fight in the First World War. (NAA, n.d. and VWMA, n.d.c)
Reynold enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on the 31st of December 1914 in Liverpool Sydney. He embarked on February 11th 1915 on the HMAT Seang Choon from Sydney to Egypt (VWMA, n.d.c), which was the main staging ground for British forces in the Mediterranean. The 13th Battalion was part of the 4th Brigade, which merged with several other brigades such as the 1st Australian Light Horse to form the new ANZAC division (Larkins, 2013).
Reynold first saw action during the defence of ANZAC cove after the landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula, arriving on the 30th April. He was wounded only 11 days later but it is not clear from his service record what the wound was, where he was treated and when he returned to the fight.
On the 22nd of July 1915, he contracted Dysentery 24th Casualty Clearing Station on Mudros and spent over 3 weeks recovering he was deemed to be fit for active service again returning to the 13th Battalion on the 15th August.
After that on the 3rd of October, he would contract Septic Throat and was once again sent to Mudros for treatment, and on the 21st he was diagnosed with Diphtheria (NAA, n.d.). Despite these diseases being life-threatening, Reynold was able to persevere and returned to service. He was invalided to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netland England on the 27th October 1915 to recover. On 24th March 1916 he returned to service and was sent to Egypt where part of his battalion, including him, was split off to create the new 45th Battalion. Most of these new battalions took half of the officers and soldiers from the Battalions they splintered from, and the empty positions left were filled by new recruits. In March, the whole of the AIF relocated to the Western Front in France and Belgium and would remain there until the end of the war. (Larkins, 2013)
Reynold and the newly formed 45th Battalion proceeded to Marseilles arriving 8th June 1916. On the Western Front, the 45th Battalion fought at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm until late September 1916, and Reynold would receive several promotions during this period.
On the 10th of August he was promoted to Corporal to replace Corporal W. G. Warne, who was killed in action at Pozieres (VWMA, n.d.d). He was temporarily given the rank of Sergeant from August 22nd to September 7th while Sergeant C. W. Potts was recovering from injury (NAA, n.d.), and then a day later on the 8th he would take the place of Sergeant A. E. Stevens, who was promoted to a higher rank (VWMA, n.d.a).
On the 27th of March 1917, Sergeant Scott received the Distinguished Combat Medal for "...conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led a bombing party in the attack with great gallantry and materially assisted in establishing a block at a critical time." After this, he would receive his final promotion, to the rank of Lieutenant, on the 21st of July 1917. (NAA, n.d.)
During 1918 Reynold was seconded to the 12th Training Battalion from 31st January at Tidworth. There he attended the 18th Rifle Course at the Australian School of Musketry from 21st Feburaru until 23rd March and qualified 1st Class with a fair working knowledge of the Lewis Gun.
Reynold returned to France in August 1918 to the 45th Battalion. He remained in France after the end of the war to assist with deployment and was retrned to England in early January.
He returned to Australia on the HT Kasmir arriving 18th April 1919. Reyonld was honourably discharged on the 1st of August 1919 (NAA, n.d.).
Upon returning to Australia, he married Rose Emma Barton in 1920 (Ancestry.com, n.d.) and moved into the house at 35 Mason Street in Port Elliot (VWMA, n.d.c). He lived there with his wife and his daughter Ellen (Ancestry.com, n.d.) and played at the Victor Harbour Croquet Club until he passed away in hospital on the 18th of July 1969 (Victor Harbour Times, 1969).
Bibliography:
Ancestry.com (no date). Reynold John Scott D.C.M. Available at: https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/reynold-john-scott-d-c-m-24-h2qlf1 (www.ancestry.com.au) (Accessed: 19 March 2024)
Australian Royalty: Genealogy of the colony of NSW (2010). Reynold John Scott. Available at: https://australianroyalty.net.au/tree/purnellmccord.ged/individual/I68512/Reynold-John-Scott (australianroyalty.net.au) (Accessed: 19 March 2024)
Larkins, S. (2013). 13th Infantry Battalion. Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/330 (/explore/units/330) (Accessed: 26 March 2024)
National Archives of Australia (no date). NAA: B2455, SCOTT R J. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3003513&isAv=N (recordsearch.naa.gov.au) (Accessed: 19 March 2024)
Victor Harbour Times (1969). From the Croquet Green. Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187368892 (trove.nla.gov.au) (Accessed: 19 March 2024)
Virtual War Memorial Australia (no date). Albert Edward STEVENS MM. Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/223145 (/explore/people/223145) (Accessed: 26 March 2024)
Virtual War Memorial Australia (no date). Clarence POTTS. Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/146344 (/explore/people/146344) (Accessed: 26 March 2024)
Virtual War Memorial Australia (no date). Reynold John SCOTT DCM. Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/70838 (/explore/people/70838) (Accessed: 19 March 2024)
Virtual War Memorial Australia (no date). William George WARNE. Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/333972 (/explore/projects/132646/Available%20at:%20https:/vwma.org.au/explore/people/333972) (Accessed: 26 March 2024)
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