Reid, William R

Person

Reid, William R

William Ross Reid was born on the 9th of February 1900 in Dennistoun, Glasgow. His mother was Christina Dewar Reid (née McLean ) and, his father William Reid a printer and compositor. Reid attended at The Glasgow School of Art from 1915 – 1920 taking classes in drawing and painting and life drawing as an evening student while working as a laboratory assistant and subsequently as a mechanic. He was awarded a Haldane bursary of £2 in his second year. Reid served at the end of WW1 entering into the Royal Navy Air Service on 30 March 1918, just before its merger with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. His enlistment record notes a description of a young man of 5 foot 6 inches with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. When WW1 broke out the Royal Naval Air Service, which formed on 1 July 1914, was equipped with 93 aircraft, 6 airships, 2 balloons and around 720 personnel. By the time Reid was enlisted towards the end of the war, the RNAS had expanded to around 55,000 personnel, about 3000 aircraft, 103 airships and 126 coastal stations. Reid married Elizabeth McCracken Brodie, a domestic servant, on 23 July 1926 in Glasgow. He continued to work as a laboratory mechanic and died aged 44 on 18 December 1944. William R. Reid is commemorated on The Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

If you have any more information, please get in touch.

Sources: Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk ;discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk; http://search.findmypast.co.uk, ancestry.co.uk, https://en.wikipedia.org

local