| Regimental number | 1058 |
| Place of birth | Newdeer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Place of birth | Newdeer, Scotland |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Address | Box 985, G.P.O., Melbourne, Victoria |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 23 |
| Height | 5' 11.5" |
| Weight | 168 lbs |
| Next of kin | Father, William Reid, Middle Hill, Rothienorman, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Previous military service | Nil |
| Enlistment date | |
| Place of enlistment | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 31st Battalion, A Company |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/48/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on |
| Two ships sailed from Melbourne carrying men from the 31st Battalion Headquarters and Companies A, B, C, and D: HMAT A62,'Wandilla', on 9 November 1915, and HMAT A41, 'Bakara', on 5 November 1915. | |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Sergeant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 31st Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 25 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 119 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: William and Isabella REID. Native of New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Disembarked Suez, 7 December 1915. Appointed Lance Corporal, 9 May 1916. Qualified at 14th School of Signalling, 1st Class, 31 May 1916. Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 23 June 1916. Wounded in action, France, 20 July 1916 (gun shot wound, left arm); admitted to 25th General Hospital, 21 July 1916; listed as 'dangerously ill', 22 July 1916. transferred to England, 26 July 1916, and admitted to Huddersfield War Hospital, 27 July 1916; discharged from hospital and taken on strength, No. 2 Command Depot, Weymouth, 15 September 1916. Proceeded overseas to France, 11 November 1916; rejoined Bn, 7 December 1916. Promoted Temporary Corporal, 1 January 1917; Sergeant, 6 May 1917. Proceeded to GHQ Small Arms School, Lewis Gun Branch, 15 August 1917; rejoined Bn, 30 August 1917. Admitted to 8th Australian Field Ambulance, 31 August 1917 (scabies); transferred to 5th Division Scabies Station, 31 August 1917; rejoined unit, 8 September 1917. Killed in action, Belgium, 26 September 1917. Buried in the vicinity of Polygon Wood. Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
