SECOND LIEUTENANT REGINALD OTHO WEBER
THE LOYAL NORTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT
5TH SEPTEMBER 1917 AGE 25
BURIED: LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, BELGIUM
Somehow I just assumed that these were the words of a hymn with the meaning that from this "great big world" God had picked out Reginald Weber for a special destiny. However, they don't come from a hymn, they come from a song by the American composer Jerome Kern from the musical, 'The Girl From Utah'. The song is a love duet, 'They Wouldn't Believe Me'. The relevant verse reads:
And when I tell them,
And I'm certainly am going to tell them,
That I'm the man whose wife one day you'll be.
They'll never believe me,
They'll never believe me,
That from this great big world
You've chosen me!
Reginald Otho Weber was the youngest son of Frederick Weber, a wealthy, German-born fur trader, now based in London. Weber served with the 3rd Battalion the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment but at the time of his death was attached to the 8th Battalion. They went into the front line on 30 August 1917, where they remained until the 5th September. During that time the regimental history records that Weber and eight Other Ranks were killed.
Strictly speaking, Weber died of wounds - "gunshot wounds to spine" - in No. 17 Casualty Clearing Station, Lijssenthoek. His death was announced in The Times on the 8 September where his wounds were described as "shell wounds".
Interestingly there is one other casualty with the surname Weber buried in Lijssthenthoek Military Cemetery - Gefreiter Karl Weber of the German army.