PRIVATE REGINALD DANIELLS
ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT
26TH APRIL 1918 AGE 18
BURIED: GROOTEBEEK BRITISH CEMETERY, OUDERDOM, BELGIUM
Reginald Daniells' mother describes him as one of the 'dearest and best'; was she quoting from the first verse of Cecil Spring-Rice's famous hymn, 'I Vow to Thee My Country'?
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
The fit is good but the dates make it difficult. This new first verse to Spring-Rice's poem was written in January 1918, but it was only circulated privately until Gustav Holst set it to music in 1921. And even then it didn't become widely known until it was published in Songs of Pralse in 1925. It's therefore probably another hymn that Mrs Daniells had in mind when she chose her son's inscription, the communion hymn, 'And now O Father Mindful of the Love', which had been published in the much more widely circulated Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1875. This is the relevant verse:
And then for those, our dearest and our best,
By this prevailing presence we appeal:
O fold them closer to thy mercy's breast,
O do thine utmost for their soul's true weal;
From tainting mischief keep them white and clear,
And crown thy gifts with strength to persevere.
Reginald Daniells, an apprentice at the Salmons Motor Carriage Works in Newport Pagnall, enlisted on 18 August 1917. He went to France on 4 April 1918 and died three weeks later, on 26 April, of wounds received in action that day. His father died a week later, and his elder brother died of influenza on 16 January 1919. His inscription also reads: 'One of the dearest and best'.