AS THE centenary of the Anzac landing in Gallipoli is commemorated this week, 16-year-old TRAVIS REID, from Hallam Senior College, reflected on his journey to Europe last year as a recipient of the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize. At the age of 19 Travis’s great-grandfather, Archibald Reid, left home to serve in WWI.
I WENT on the trip of a lifetime for two weeks over the 2014 first term school holidays as a recipient of the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize.
We travelled to Greece, Turkey, Belgium and France to visit notable WWI sites.
It was a once in a lifetime experience and I enjoyed every second of it.
It wasn’t just the idea of being able to travel overseas and experience various countries’ cultures, it was the enduring legacy of the knowledge of what it would have been like for teenagers my age and other participants during World War I.
I learnt more than I thought I ever could while travelling abroad about the sacrifice and dedication soldiers made for their countries, how the Anzacs Spirit played a major role in Gallipoli and also the history behind the Great War.
In the 21st century, teenagers are able to seek out adventure travelling around the world and with the internet they are armed with detailed knowledge of where they are going and what they will experience, unlike the teenagers of WWI.
They went to war seeking adventure and to see the world for free but were ignorant of the utter brutality they would face in the battlefield.
On 25 January 1916, at the age of 19 years and six months, my great-grandfather felt the Anzac Spirit and signed up as a volunteer to “serve in the Military Forces of the Commonwealth of Australia within or beyond the limits of the Commonwealth”.
For an unknown reason he signed up under the name Archibald Reid which remains a mystery to our family even today.
Our family name should technically be ’Webster’ not ’Reid’.
On 25 May 1916 my great-grandfather left Melbourne on a ship named HMAT A11 Ascanius with his 37-year-old Uncle George Thompson Webster for active service abroad.
They arrived in France on 23 November 1916 as part of the 3rd Divisional Signal Company, under the ultimate command of the famous Major General John Monash.
It is difficult to determine exactly where my great-grandfather served as the war records are not specific; however as part of the 3rd Division he would have most likely participated in the Battle of Messines in France in June 1917, the Battle of Broodseinde in October 1917 and at the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium.
In March 1918 the Third Division was rushed to the Somme region to stem the German advance and halted their advance at Morlancourt and Villers Bretonneux.
He left arrived back in Melbourne on 27 January 1920 and was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 21 march 1920 with the rank of corporal.
At the age of 46 in 1942 my great-grandfather felt the calling of the Anzac Spirit once again and re-joined the army to serve in Seymour Victoria at the Land Headquarters School of Mechanization.
He was discharged on 22 October 1945 with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1.
He was awarded The War Medal and The Australian Service Medal for his service during the Second World War.
I am very proud of my great grandfather and our family is honoured to exhibit his wartime achievements in a prominent place in our home.
While he did not participate in the Gallipoli Campaign I believe that his voluntary participation in both the WWI and WWII campaigns were no lesser an example of the true Anzac Spirit.
