War Memorial
Reginald Lewis Brooker was born in Leigh, Kent, and baptised at the parish church of St Mary on 30th August 1896. His parents, George and Mary Ann Brooker, made their home at Forge Square in the village, and Reginald grew up there before the war called him away.
In January 1916 he joined the Royal West Kent Regiment. After some six months of training he was transferred to the London Regiment, and he proved an able soldier during this period, becoming a good shot and a capable bomber. He was assigned to "B" Company of the 3rd Battalion, London Regiment, which formed part of the London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). He left England for the front in France on 31st August 1916, holding the rank of Private with the service number 253249.
His time at the front was tragically short. On 8th October 1916, little more than a month after arriving in France, Reginald was killed in action at the age of 20. He was posted as missing on that same date, and the family's anguish was recorded in The Courier of 27 September 1918, which noted that his parents had two other sons serving at the time.
Reginald is buried at Bienvillers Military Cemetery. He is remembered on the Leigh War Memorial, and his name also appears on his parents' gravestone in St Mary's churchyard, where the inscription records him simply as R Brooker, sixth son, and states that he fell in the Great War. George Brooker died on 9th December 1927, aged 70, and Mary Ann followed on 17th November 1938, aged 79; both were laid to rest at St Mary's, with their soldier son remembered alongside them.