Story of Ronald Reeve
online resource
posted on 2024-06-05, 18:03 authored by Their Finest Hour Project TeamRonald Reeve was born on 21 February 1925 in Oxford. In the early part of the Second World War, he joined the Home Guard when he was very young. He enlisted (was not called up) and wanted to join the Gordon Highlanders, like many others.
A few months before D-Day, he was transferred to the Black Watch. On D-Day, Ron was 14418040 Private R.H. Reeve, an infantryman serving with 7 Platoon, A Company, 5th Battalion Black Watch, 153rd Brigade, 51st (Highland) Division. He landed at Juno Beach near Graye-sur-Mer around 8pm on 6 June 1944 under Canadian command and spent a horrid few days. Later, he was sent to reinforce Airborne Pegasus Bridge.
The Black Watch was tasked with Chateau St Come and Breville. Ronald's company was almost wiped out during a German counterattack. He defended the chateau, but it was a bloodbath.
He faced another disaster at Columbelles Factory, where his company withdrew due to heavy casualties. Then Ronald was out of the line for rest for a few weeks, followed by an attack on Le Havre and back to St Valery.
On Christmas Day, just before lunch, he was sent to the Ardennes to back up the Americans and then to Hamburg. He stayed on in Germany.
History
Item list and details
1. Photograph of Ron wearing the uniform of the Gordon Highlanders, his first choice of regiment on enlisting. 2. Portrait with artist's signature of Ron taken from the photograph, drawn in Berlin on the 7th September 1945 or 1946, by a German civilian named "Thiel," in return for a jar of coffee. 3. Ron in the uniform of the Highland Regiment, a training regiment for soldiers of the Scottish Regiments. 4. Ron with his Mother, Winifred Reeve (nee Ridge), and two younger brothers, Reg (Royal Horse Artillery) and Dennis in the uniform of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. 5. A very different picture of Ron just after the war ended. 6. Ron's attestation papers on volunteering to join the Army dated 18th January 1943 at Oxford. 7. Photographs and explanation of Ron's actual bonnet and 'Red Hackle' as worn by him and the Black Watch. 8. Ron's Black Watch cap badges worn in the 'Glengarry' headdress. 9. Ron's Corporal's chevrons and divisional patches from his battledress. 10. Cap Badge of the Highland Regiment, an unknown cap badge thought to be a University Officers Training unit, and a German (Austrian) badge taken from a captured soldier. 11. Original typed notes on patches worn. 12. Documents showing Ron's formal transfer and retention of rank from a holding battalion, the Tyneside Scottish, to the 5th Battalion the Black Watch with effect from the 24th August 1944. He had physically transferred to the 5th Battalion on the 16th April 1944. 13. Account of an action of the Black Watch at Breville and Chateau St. Come 11-12 June 1944 which resulted in over 230 casualties in the battalion. It was the second of three disastrous actions carried out by the Black Watch in the days immediately after D-Day. An attack on Columbelles days later further decimated the Battalion. This area, known as "The Triangle," was the Allied bridgehead on the east bank of the River Orne and was ferociously counter-attacked by the Germans trying to retake Pegasus Bridge to prevent the Allied advance. 14. Welcome Card produced by the people of Limburg, Holland thankful for their liberation. 15. Photograph taken in s'Hertogenbosch in October 1944, during a lull in fighting. Ron on left with his friend Stan Suskins. The other men in the photo were battle casualty replacements who had only joined the day before and had never been in action. Four days later 5 of the men had been killed and 4 others badly wounded. Ron survived unhurt. Stan Suskins sustained a minor wound. 16. Handwritten poem written in the front line at Goch on the 7th March 1945. 17. Photograph of a paper knife taken as a souvenir by Ron from a house in Goch. 18. Ron's Medals. 19. Account of an action at Rees on crossing the Rhine on the 23rd March 1945. Probably from a divisional newspaper. 20. Blank Postcards from Paris and Antwerp. Undated. 21. Extract from the "Red Hackle" magazine of the Black Watch by Dr. Tom Renouf MM, who knew Ron, and in which he describes an action involving Ron in the Ardennes. 22. Christmas Card of the 51st Highland Division. Sent shortly before the 5th Black Watch were deployed to the Ardennes on Christmas Day 1944 to support the Americans in the Battle of the Bulge. 23. Notes issued to Soldiers going on UK leave from the BLA ("British Liberation Army"). 24. "Non-Fraternisation" instruction dated March 1945 issued by Field Marshal Montgomery to the BLA in Germany. 25. Photograph and local news report of a cousin of Ron's, Frederick Gordon Matthews, 40 Royal Marine Commando, who was killed in Italy on the 19th January 1944. 26. Photographs taken of Ron with other unknown soldiers in Berlin after the war ended. Ron served with 56 DCU on "Operation Barleycorn," which was aimed at returning former German Prisoners of War to work in the fields to harvest crops for food which was in short supply. 27. Souvenir programme from the Jerboa Cinema, Berlin, of a showing of the film "Odd Man Out" and other acts on the 9th June 1947. The 'Jerboa' was the emblem of the 7th Armoured Division, "The Desert Rats." 28. Examples of Routine and Movement Orders used in Berlin to transit the corridor from Berlin to Helmstedt through Soviet-held Germany. This corridor remained in use until the reunification of Germany in the 1990s. 29. Documents relating to Ron's transfer to the Army Reserve in July 1947. He remained on the Reserve until 1952. 30. Army Form W5258. Record of Service from enlistment to discharge to the Reserve. 31. Soldiers Service Army Book showing details of service and administrative details. 32. Disabled Soldiers Appeal Card by F. Scarborough. Possibly predates World War 2. 33. War poems written by Ron after the war. Scarred by his experiences, writing these poems went some way to help him.Person the story/items relate to
Ronald ReevePerson who shared the story/items
Robert ReeveRelationship between the subject of the story and its contributor
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Shared at Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Oxfordshire on 1 April 2023.Record ID
107083 | WOO003Usage metrics
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