"L/16849 Private Jack Rea

Royal Fusiliers, British Army

Killed in action – 7 July 1916

Aged just 16

One of New Zealand’s youngest soldiers to fall in the First World War was Jack Rea of Uruti, north of New Plymouth. Born 8 November 1898, he was the eldest son of David and Violet Rea, growing up on the family farm in the quiet Uruti Valley.

When war was declared in 1914, Jack was determined to serve — despite being barely a teenager. With no money and no official way to enlist, he set out on his own. He cycled the 37 kilometres from Uruti to Waitara, made his way south to Wellington by train, and stowed away on a ship bound for Britain.

Arriving in the United Kingdom at just 15, he still knew he was underage — but he was desperate to join the fight. Jack enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers in early 1915 and soon found himself on the Western Front. Courageous and capable, he served as a sniper, facing the full horror of trench warfare.

On 7 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, Jack was killed in action. His body was never recovered, and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France — alongside thousands of others with no known grave.

Back in Uruti, a remote valley half a world away, the first his mother knew of his fate was when his medals arrived in the post.

Jack Rea sacrificed everything for a war he was scarcely old enough to understand — driven by a fierce desire to serve.

Just 16 years old." [Public Story on Ancestry.com, Accessed: 22/06/2026] [NZWGT - Jack's birth was registered under his mother's maiden name (Reeve) as his parents weren't married until the following year.]