No. 90 Squadron was based at RAF Polebrook in Northamptonshire, where it carried out operational trials even while the airfield was still under construction. The squadron was equipped with American-built Boeing B-17C aircraft, designated Fortress I by the Royal Air Force. Although the United States Army Air Forces did not consider these aircraft combat-ready, the RAF pressed them into front-line service for very high-altitude daylight bombing missions as part of ongoing operational evaluation.
On 28 July 1941, Reginald a former electrical control engineer, was serving as Observer aboard Fortress I AN534 for a daytime air test, alongside six other crew members. At high altitude, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence, resulting in structural failure of the starboard wing. All seven men were killed in the crash near Stoke Albany, Northamptonshire.
Reginald’s body was recovered and returned to his hometown of Medway, Kent, where he was buried in Chatham (Palmerston Road) Cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads:
GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS.
He left behind a widow, Elsie, and possibly a daughter.
