- William Reid (VC)
William Reid VC (
December 21 ,1921 –November 28 ,2001 ) was a Scottish recipient of theVictoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He earned his Victoria Cross as a pilot in theRoyal Air Force Bomber Command during theSecond World War William Reid was born in
Baillieston ,Glasgow , on12 December 1921 , the son of ablacksmith . He was educated at Swinton Primary School and Coatbridge Higher Grade School and studiedmetallurgy for a time, but then applied to join the RAF.After training in
Canada , he received his wings and a commission in June 1942, then trained on twin-enginedAirspeed Oxford s atLittle Rissington before moving to the Operational Training Unit atRAF North Luffenham . There, his skill as a pilot led to his being selected as an instructor, flying theVickers Wellington , albeit with the promise of a posting to aAvro Lancaster heavy bomber unit.The posting did not materialise until July 1943, when he was sent to 1654 Conversion Unit,
RAF Wigsley , nearNewark-on-Trent , where he flew his first operational mission as second pilot, in a Lancaster of 9 Squadron, in a raid on Munchen-Gladbach.In September he was posted to 61 Squadron at
RAF Syerston , Newark, to commence Lancaster bombing operations, and flew seven sorties to various German cities before the raid onDusseldorf .Düsseldorf
Reid was a 21-year-old Acting
Flight Lieutenant of theRoyal Air Force Volunteer Reserve serving in 61 Squadron when he took part in the raid on Düsseldorf inGermany .On the night of
3 November 1943 on the way to Düsseldorf, Flight Lieutenant Reid's windscreen was shattered by fire from aMesserschmitt and the gun turrets and cockpit badly damaged. Saying nothing of his multiple injuries, he continued on his mission and soon afterwards the bomber was attacked again. His navigator was killed and thewireless operator fatally wounded. He was wounded again, as was theflight engineer , while the Lancaster received more serious damage.Pressing on to his target, Reid released the bombs, then set course for home. On the way back to Syerston, he saw the searchlights of
RAF Shipdham , a USAAF-operated base inNorfolk .Despite the loss of blood, he landed the plane though the undercarriage collapsed on landing and the aircraft slid along the runway. The wireless operator died in Shipdham's medical centre but the rest of the crew survived. Reid's citation for the VC included the phrase "tenacity and devotion to duty." [Smith, Graham "Norfolk Airfields in the Second World War"]
617 Squadron
After a period in hospital, Reid went to C Flight, 617 (Dambuster) Squadron at
RAF Woodhall Spa in January 1944 and flew sorties to various targets in France.In July 1944, 617 Squadron was linked with 9 Squadron for a "Tallboy" deep penetration bomb attack on a V-weapon storage dump at Rilly-la-Montagne, near
Rheims . As Reid released his bomb over the target at 12,000 ft, he felt his aircraft shudder under the impact of a bomb dropped by another Lancaster 6,000 ft above. The bomb ploughed through his aeroplane's fuselage, severing all control cables and fatally weakening its structure, and Reid gave the order to bail out.As members of his crew scrambled out, the plane went into a dive, pinning Reid to his seat. Reaching overhead, he managed to release the escape hatch panel and struggled out just as the Lancaster broke in two. He landed heavily by parachute, breaking his arm in the fall.
Within an hour he was captured by a German patrol and taken prisoner. After various transfers, he ended the war in
Stalag III-A prisoner of war camp atLuckenwalde , west ofBerlin .Post war
Reid left the RAF in 1946 and resumed his studies, first at the
University of Glasgow and later at theWest of Scotland Agricultural College . After graduating from theUniversity of Glasgow in 1949, he went on a travelling scholarship for six months, studying agriculture in India, Australia, New Zealand, America and Canada.In 1950, he became an agricultural adviser to the MacRobert Trust, Douneside. From 1959 to his retirement in 1981, he was an adviser to a firm of animal feed manufacturers.
Reid was interviewed for the monumental 26 part World War II documentary, "World at War." His interview appears in the episode "Whirlwind."
Notes
References
*
British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)External links
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