Alexander Carlaw Reid - Link to Longcroft

Private Alexander Carlaw Reid. Authors image

56135 Private, 19th Battalion (Central Ontario), 4th Canadian Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division.

Age: 21

Date of death: 10.11.15

Buried: Ridge Wood Military Cemetery II.L.9

Family history: Son of Allan and Margaret Reid, 7 Elizabeth Street, Hamilton, Ontario. Born at Longcroft. He was working as a Bench Machinist when he enlisted on 8 April 1915, he was already serving in the 3rd Reserve contingent. He is recorded in the Canadian records as 56153 Alexander Carlew Reid.

Action leading to his death

The 19th Battalion departed Toronto by train and embarked from Montreal on 13 May 1915 aboard RMS Scandinavian and landed in Plymouth 23 May. The battalion spent the rest of the spring and summer training at West Sandling, Shorncliffe. They also carried out manoeuvres with the other units with which they would serve on the Western Front. The 19th Battalion would form part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, along with the 18th, 20th, and 21st Battalions – all from Ontario. The 4th, 5th, and 6th Infantry Brigades, plus artillery, engineering, communications, transportation, supply, and medical units, would be organized to form the 2nd Division of the CEF. The 19th Battalion marched to Folkestone on 14 September, where they embarked for France and landed at Boulogne in the early morning of 15 September. With the arrival of 2nd Division on the continent, a new Canadian Corps was formed, composed of the 1st and 2nd Divisions. Later in 1916, they would be joined by the 3rd and 4th Divisions. The men of the 19th Battalion entered the trenches for the first

Trench map showing the trench lines at Vierstraat.

time just east of Wulverghem in Belgium on 20-21 September. The next day casualties began trickling in, mainly owing to inexperience and carelessness. In October, they moved into the lines at Vierstraat. There, in even muddier and more dangerous conditions, the Battalion spent the next four and a half months, alternating tours of duty in the front lines with welcome periods in reserve positions. Alexander is recorded as ‘Killed in Action (Shrapnel).’

Ridge Wood Military Cemetery, CWGC. Authors image