BORN HULL 1887. SON OF MARY ANN WESTELL (1852-1949)& LATE THOMAS WALLACE TURNBALL (1849-1915), OF 13, BEECH GROVE, PRINCES ROAD, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS). A TIMBER YARD LABOURER. HIS FATHER WAS LOST AT SEA, ON THE VESSEL “LUCIDA”, ON 31/01/1915, AGED 65. HE HAD THREE BROTHERS WHO ALL SERVED IN THE WAR AND ONE SISTER.
REGINALD SERVED AS A PRIVATE, IN THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION. DIED ON 20 APRIL 1918. DEATH AND LOCATION UNKNOWN. NO CWGC RECORDS
HIS BROTHER, LANCE CORPORAL, STANLEY TURNBULL, OF THE 4TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, DIED OF GANGRENE 0N 14/11/1918, THREE DAYS AFTER THE ARMISTICE, AGED 27.
STANLEY LEFT SEVEN LETTERS AND ONE RECEIVED BY HIM ABOUT LIFE AT THE FRONT, WHICH ARE KEPT BY THE HULL HISTORY CENTRE.(L920.TUR). THE LETTERS SPEAK OF AWFUL CONDITIONS IN THE TRENCHES “MUD AND WATER EVERYWHERE…. WELL OVER THE KNEES IN SOME PARTS” (JAN 15TH), AND OF THE DANGERS “WE ARE IN A PART OF THE LINE THAT I WAS IN NO WAY ANXIOUS TO SEE AGAIN”. LEAVE WAS ALSO SCARCE, THE LETTER MAY 14TH SHOWS HE HAD NO LEAVE FOR 18 MONTHS. THIS LETTER ALSO REVEALS THE LOSSES SUFFERED BY THE HULL BATTALIONS, “I WAS AMONGST TWO OF OUR SERVICE BATTS, ABOUT A MONTH AGO, BUT STRANGE TO SAY SAW HARDLY ANYONE I KNEW. THEY, LIKE OURSELVES ARE A MIXTURE OF MANY BATTALIONS.”
REGINALD & STANLEY TURNBULL, ARE RECORDED TOGETHER ON THE SAME WAR PENSION CARD,
