The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4766) Private John Stanley Reid, 20th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Gerard Berelle, the story for this day was on (4766) Private John Stanley Reid, 20th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4766 Private John Stanley Reid, 20th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA: 9 October 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private John Stanley Reid.

John Reid was born in 1898 in Bourke, New South Wales, the son of Alexander and Mary Reid. When he was about three years old, his family moved to Enfield in Sydney’s west. Known as “Jack” to his family and friends, he attended Croydon Park Public School, and joined the senior cadets.

In December 1915, Reid enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. In order to join, he claimed that he was 18 years of age, when in fact he was only 17. He trained at the army camp in Liverpool, south-west of Sydney, for several months before embarking on the transport ship Ceramic in April 1916.

Reid arrived in England in May 1916, and continued his training. In September, he sailed to France and joined his unit, the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion. After six weeks in the field, Reid had developed trench foot, a serious condition caused by prolonged exposure to wet, cold, and unsanitary conditions. He was evacuated to hospital behind the lines, and then to England.

In hospital until early February 1917, Reid had avoided the trenches for most of the terrible winter of 1916 to 1917, which was the coldest in decades. Soon after his return to his unit in March, illness returned again. Reid came down with influenza and was hospitalised in France. When he returned to duty, the 20th Battalion was in the Somme valley.

Around this time, the British commanders shifted their focus from the Somme valley to the town of Ypres in Belgium. The 20th Battalion moved north, with the men continuing their training while they were in the rear areas. In early September, Reid and his unit crossed the border into Belgium.

The British then launched a series of attacks that are now known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The 20th Battalion participated in two of these attacks. At the battle of Menin Road in late September, the unit succeeded in capturing its objectives.

On 9 October 1917, the battalion attacked at Poelcappelle. Witnesses later reported that they had seen Reid and Sergeant Harold Sharp advancing across no man’s land, taking shelter in shell-holes. As they entered a crater, the sergeant realised that Reid had been shot in the stomach. Sergeant Sharp tended to Reid, but he died shortly afterwards. He was 19 years old.

Jack Reid was buried near where he was killed, but in the confusion of the battle and later counter-attacks, the location of his grave was lost. His name is now engraved on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, which commemorates 55,000 Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in Belgium and have no known grave.

Reid’s mother became anxious when she stopped receiving letters from her son, and after some months, she wrote to Australian military authorities enquiring after him. It was only in early April 1918 that she received the official news that he had been killed.

Reid’s older brother also served in the Australian Imperial Force. Private Leslie Reid served on the Western Front with the 13th Battalion, and returned to Australia after the war in June 1919.

Private John Stanley Reid is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private John Stanley Reid, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section