Collins, RT
(1879 - 1918)
Key Facts
DATE OF BIRTH:
22nd December 1879
YEARS ATTENDED THE COLLEGE:
1894 - 1897
HOME ADDRESS WHEN AT THE COLLEGE:
Farnborough House, Kirkdale, Sydenham
REGIMENT
Royal Army Medical Corps
FINAL RANK:
Lieutenant Colonel
DATE OF DEATH:
18th September 1918
AGE AT DEATH:
38
WHERE HE DIED (or was wounded)
Coulaincourt, Picardy
LOCATION OF GRAVE OR MEMORIAL:
Trefcon British Cemetery, Caulaincourt. B 54
Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Thomas Collins
Born in Dublin on December 22nd 1879, Reginald was the only son of Wolfenden Collins, a physician and surgeon, and his wife Isabel. After leaving Dulwich he followed in his father’s footsteps as a medical doctor, undergoing his training at Guy’s Hospital in London. Once qualified he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, at first as a lieutenant, before being promoted to Captain in February 1907.
When the war began he went to Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force almost at once, in August of 1914, and was present for the Retreat from Mons that month. In February of 1915 Reginald was promoted to Major, and in September of the following year received another promotion, to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel; during this period he also spent time attached to the Wiltshire Regiment. In January of 1918 he received the D.S.O., and in early September that year was awarded another prestigious honour, being given the French Croix de Guerre with Stars. Not long after this however, on September 18th, he was in charge of 17th Field Ambulance near Coulaincourt in Picardy when it came under attack from German shelling, killing him instantly.
