7th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Age 20
Only son of Alexander and Mary Reid, 8 Rennie Street, Falkirk.
Buried: St Olle Communal Cemetery Grave 2
He was called up in June 1917 and went to France in January 1918. Prior to being called up he was employed as a Clerk by the Prudential Assurance Company, Newmarket Street, Falkirk. He was taken prisoner on 22 March 1918. He was put to work behind the German lines working on roads, loading wagons and other tasks. Due to the heavy and arduous work that he was subjected to combined with a lack of food his health broke down. The week before his death he had gone sick. The Germans had informed the prisoners that unless they worked they would not receive any food. This lack of food and medical attention, he was seriously ill, led to his death. He died on a transport train between Olle and Bussey near Cambrai on 23 June 1918. It later transpired that his parents had been sending him parcels but that these had not been delivered to him but had been directed to Parchim Camp in Mecklenburg.
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