Reginald John Robins was born in Forest gate on 17th September 1895 to parents John and Sarah Robins. John was a merchant clerk and he and his wife were originally from Staffordshire in the West Midlands. Reginald had one younger sister Edith who was born in 1899.
At the time of the 1911 census the Robins family were living at ‘Forest Dale’ Park Road Wanstead. Reginald was 15 years old and still at school.
During the First World War, Reginald joined the Royal Naval Reserve and became a wireless telegraph operator on board HMS Riviera, a seaplane tender (a boat that supports seaplanes). On 9th December 1917 Reginald was drowned, although research has not been able to discover how he ended up in the sea. Reginald’s death record says he was ‘drowned through the loss of Seaplane.’
His body was not recovered and his name appears on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
Research by Wanstead United Reformed Church
Sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com