Alfred Reynolds est né à Fulham (Londres) le 8 mars 1899. Il a deux frères aînés, Sam (né en 1895) et Franck (né en 1897), et une soeur cadette, Louise Winefred (née en 1901). Sa mère est décédée alors qu'il n'avait que 2 ans 1/2.

Lorsque la guerre éclate en août 1914, Alfred n'a que 15 ans 1/2. Le 8 mai 1915, il réussit à se faire enrôler dans le 14e (R) Bataillon du Royal Sussex Régiment, en mentant sur son âge. Après 272 jours de service, son mensonge est découvert et il est renvoyé de l'armée le 3 janvier 1916.

En 1917, il est enrôlé pour la deuxième fois, mais en toute légitimité, dans le Royal Sussex Régiment. Il débarque à Boulogne-sur-Mer le 1er avril 1917 et rejoint le front de la Somme par chemin de fer.

Il tient quelques notes dans un petit carnet. On y retrouve cités de nombreux lieux de la Somme : Doullens, Sailly-le-Sec, Albert, Bray-sur-Somme, Amiens, Aveluy, etc.

Le 30 mars 1917, il assiste à une charge de la cavalerie canadienne et britannique vers le Bois de Moreuil. Cette charge a permis aux alliés de reprendre une crête et ainsi préserver Amiens de l'avancée allemande.

Alfred Reynolds est blessé au combat le 2 août 1918. Il sera soigné dans un hôpital en Angleterre.

John Reynolds, fils d'Alfred, écrit :

Then came the finding of a very small diary (Appendix 3) that I had previously missed, which was tucked in the back of the red War Office envelope. It measured 80 x 140 mm. The first entry being that the small booklet was a gift from Win on my 16th birthday. (Fortune then favoured me, when it became apparent that a bowling friend was very interested in WWI loaned me several books to supplement those I had from the library). Up to that time, I had no idea that a great German offensive starting on 21st March 1918 very nearly separated the French and British armies in the Somme region plus subsequent offensives elsewhere very nearly ended the war with a German victory. The German army advanced nearly 80 km, capturing the town of Albert on the old Roman road some 30km from Amiens. This latter town was the hub of the British arm in the Somme region and had to be defended at all cost. The battles of previous years had been ones of attrition, which left the British army weakened, especially in this region and reserves were desperately needed. At a meeting of the war cabinet to discuss the dire situation that had developed, it was stated that about 50,000 boys between the ages of 18 and 19 years old were in the UK and that, if the rule restricting their deployment to the UK could be over-ridden, then they could be used as reserves. This was agreed, hence my Dad entered onto the scene with Kaiser Bill.