Thank you to Jane Anthony for this research.
James Reynolds was the second and middle child of Henry and Rose Reynolds, his father was a postman. He was born in 1898 and had an older sister and younger brother.
He enlisted in the 94 Company of the Machine Gun Corps in London. The company had been formed at Grantham Lincolnshire. The Machine Gun Corps is one of the most difficult to research as it was formed during the course of WW1. The 94 Company was part of the 31st Division.
James Reynolds was killed in action aged 18 on the first day of the battle of the Somme. On that day the 31st and 4th Divisions attacked north and south of the D919 road, and although parties of the 31st Division reached Serre, the attack failed.
In the spring of 1917, the battlefields of the Somme and Ancre were cleared by V Corps and a number of new cemeteries were made, three of which are now named from the Serre Road. Cemetery No.1 was begun in May 1917 and the original graves can now be found in Plot I, Rows A to G, which includes the grave of James Little Reynolds. The rest of the cemetery was added after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from the nearby battlefields and from the smaller cemeteries. He is also commemorated at South Holmwood
| Born | Holmwood | |
| Son of | Henry and Rose Reynolds of Grenville Cottage, Buckingham Road, South Holmwood | |
| Enlisted | London | |
| Regiment | 94 Company. Machine Gun Corps | |
| Number | 14649 | |
| Date of Death | 1st July 1916 | |
| Place of Death | Somme, France | |
| Cause of Death | Killed in Action | |
| Age | 18 | |
| Memorial | Serre Road Cemetery No.1, Somme, France |
