In a letter home to his sister Reuben refers to his dugout as a 'mansion under the ground'. He tells her that he is in good spirits and that the weather is good, though cold at night. He goes on to tell an amusing story, saying that a group of German soldiers were shooting at their line from an unseen position, in order to find out where they were, one of the British troops called out for 'Walter!' prompting several of the German's to raise their heads to see who had called them, thus revleaing their position. With jokes such as these he says the men are in good spirits, with not even the shelling getting them down.

Serjeant Reuben died early on in the war at the end of October 1914, his younger brother Zeph was also serving in the army and was killed just two weeks before Reuben. Their names were listed side by side in the Casulaty list of the Jewish Chronicle.