Although he was only 19 years old, Second Lieutenant Reggie Pohlmann RFC, from near Halifax, had a fearsome reputation as a determined bomber pilot. Yet sadly this brave Yorkshireman, a veteran at such a young age, paid the ultimate price over the trenches in 1918.
Andrew Thomas outlines Reggie’s brief, but stellar, career.
Born on August 4, 1898, the son of Fred and Sarah Pohlmann of Oakleigh, Hipperholme near Halifax, West Yorkshire, Reginald Peel Pohlmann was the younger brother of Henry, born in 1893. The boys were part of a comfortable, middle class, family their father being the owner of Pohlmann & Son, Pianoforte Manufacturers, which had premises in Halifax. After primary education, the young Reggie, as the family knew him, became a pupil at the Hipperholme Grammar School where during his final year he became Head Boy.
By 1915, Henry had volunteered for military service and had begun training as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). It was therefore natural that on leaving school aged 17, Reggie also volunteered for the army, and, hopefully, the RFC. He was attested as a private soldier on March 2, 1916 and was eventually called forward at the beginning of February 1917. The youthful Reg…
