The AIF Project

William Henry REID

Regimental number2837
Place of birthBega, New South Wales
SchoolKyogle Public School, New South Wales
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationFarmer
AddressWoodenbong, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation24
Height5' 6.25"
Weight149 lbs
Next of kinFather, James Reid, Fairfield, Woodenbong, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date12 August 1915
Place of enlistmentLismore, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name25th Battalion, 6th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/42/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A48 Seang Bee on 21 October 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll2837A
Rank from Nominal RollLance Corporal
Unit from Nominal Roll9th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 25 February 1917
Age at death from cemetery records25
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
57
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: James and Trophina REID, Woodenbong, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Allotted to and proceeded to join 9th Bn, 27 February 1916.

Joined 9th Bn, Habieta, 28 February 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 27 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 3 April 1916.

Appointed Lance Corporal, 27 January 1917.

Killed in action, 25 February 1917.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsAddress incorrectly recorded on Embarkation Roll as Noondenbong, New South Wales.
SourcesNAA: B2455, REID William Henry

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