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Frank Reginald Collis
Major, Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force)
Killed in action, 27 September 1916, aged 23
Buried at Peronne Road Cemetery, Maricourt, France
CWGC registered (Son of Frank and Mary Ellen Collis, of Town Hall Chambers, Stoke-on-Trent. A Solicitor of the Supreme Court.)
O HAPPY SAINTS FOR EVER BLEST AT JESUS’ FEET HOW SAFE YOUR REST
Frank Collis is not a Llandudno casualty. He is remembered on a family memorial in the Great Orme’s Head Cemetery.
Frank Reginald Collis was born on 26 October 1892 in Fenton, Staffordshire. He was the son of Frank Collis and Mary Ellen Collis (née Stevenson). Frank Collis (senior) was an articled clerk, becoming a solicitor in 1899. In 1901, the family lived at 2 Regent Road, Fenton. Frank Reginald was educated at Denstone College and then trained to be a solicitor. He also joined the Territorial Force of the Army and was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd North Midland Ammunition Column, 2nd North Midland Brigade on 22 October 1909, four days before his 17th birthday. The Census of England for 1911 records the family living at the same address; Frank Reginald was recorded as an Articled Law Clerk. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 2 March 1912.
It is recorded that Frank Reginald Collins became a solicitor one month before the beginning of the Great War. The 1/2nd North Midland Brigade disembarked in France in February 1915 though Frank did not enter the theatre until 11 July 1915. When he was promoted to Captain and Major is unknown. It was reported that he died of wounds on 27 July 1916 received earlier that month whilst commanding a battery of the North Midland Brigade. Official records state that he was killed in action. He was initially buried in Talus Boise British Military Cemetery 1 km east of Carnoy in the Somme. This was also the location of a dressing station where he could have died of wounds. After the war, he was reinterred at the nearby Peronne Road Cemetery, Maricourt.
Alderman Frank Collis was elected Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1923. He later lived in Deganwy and became an Alderman of Conway. He died in December 1929 and was buried at the Great Orme’s Head Cemetery. His monument in the Cemetery has a memorial to his elder son, Frank Reginald Collis. Whether or not Frank Reginald ever visited Deganwy or Llandudno is unknown.
Known memorials:
- Denstone College Roll of Honour
- Hartshill War Memorial
- Family memorial, Great Orme’s Head Cemetery
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