CHARLES EDWARD REED WW1 NAVY KILLED BY DROWNING WHILE OBSERVING FROM KITE BALOON

.........................REMEMBER THE FALLEN .........................CHARLES EDWARD REED, NAVY WW1 .........................By Bob Lessard Historian ........................ American Legion Post 64 .........................Published Gazette 5/12/2017 ..........(Periodically, the Gazette will publish biographical sketches of Middleboro’s war casualties. This is intended to remember the sacrifice of all veterans and those who gave their lives in the service of our country. ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL.) .......The death of Ensign Charles E. Reed of the United States Navy in World War 1, while detached to the British Navy, was one which is difficult to imagine in these modern times. Accounts of his drowning on August 14, 1918 were received by Middleboro residents by newspaper articles originating from Washington. .......“Death by drowning of two men in foreign service was announced tonight by the Navy Department, “ was the lead sentence in a news release by the government . “They were Ensign Charles E. Reed, member of a kite balloon detachment, home address 718 Commonwealth Ave, Boston and Robert J. Nash, Edge Hill, Penn, mess attendant.” .......“Ensign Charles E. Reed, U.S.N.R.F., who was drowned from a kite balloon which was being towed by the British ship the HMS Springlok,” reported one newspaper. Another news article revealed that: ”Ensign Reed, 29, United States Naval Air Service died by drowning off the Irish Coast. He was serving with a detachment of a Kite Balloon unit with Her Majesty’s Ship Springlok.” .......(A search online for a photo of a WW1 British balloon kite ship showed several pictures of a Blimp with a basket attached. The “balloon” was tethered to the ship and apparently could be reeled back to the deck for recovery.) .......Charles E. Reed was born on April 16, 1888 in South Middleboro, according to information retrieved by Middleboro Town Clerk Allison Ferreira. He was the son of Edward C. Reed and Georgianna (Gault) of Wareham. He was married to Annie Delle Alden on June 16, 1914 and living in Boston at the time of his death. ....... A news account stated that he had been employed by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston for seven years before entering the service. ....... Charles Reed sent a card to Middleboro’s Commercial Club with personal and military information. The Commercial Club was comprised of business people of the town. The group would send gift packages to soldiers of Middleboro throughout the war. .......On Reed’s card, he wrote that on October 6, 1917 he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Bureau of Aviation as an Ensign. He wrote, “My duty will be foreign service (somewhere) no address.” He listed as Pine Street as his home address in South Middleboro. He listed his father and his wife as next of kin. .......His military record, according to sources, indicate that he “enrolled” in the service at the Boston Navy Yard on July 16, 1917 as a Seaman Second Class. He was appointed an officer on January 30, 1918, while stationed at the Naval Training Camp in Akron, Ohio. .......He was serving at the Navy Yard in New York, New York when he was transferred for Kite Balloon duty instruction in Ireland. He started his assignment on the H.M.S. Springlok on March 18, 1918. The Kite Balloon service was used for observing the enemy from the air. Ensign Reed lost his life while in training. .......He is remembered for his service in Mertie Romaine’s “History of the Town of Middleboro”, which lists the names of over 400 men from town who served during World War 1. And, his name can be found on the WW1 Honor Roll plaques in Middleboro’s Town Hall front lobby. ......Also, his name is engraved in the World War 1 section of the Central Casualty stone in the Middleboro Veterans Memorial Park.