REID Horace William VX56567 HQ Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Horace (Bluey, Ossie) Reid was born on 13 October 1919 in Bangor Tasmania. He lived in Sandhill Tasmania when he enlisted on 27 May 1941 at Royal Park Melbourne.

Horace joined the Battalion on 3 July 1941 and embarked for Singapore with the rest of the Battalion late July. Following the fall of Singapore Horace became a prisoner of war. Part of his time as a POW was spent on the Thai Burma Railway as part of F Force (Ponds Party).

Pte Reid survived captivity, returning to Australia on Esperance Bay in October 1945.

Horace married Elsie Barbara Campbell In Feb 1947 and they had three children.

Ossie Reid died on 4 June 2001 and is buried at Carr Villa Memorial Park, Kings Meadows, Launceston, Tasmania.

AWM Accession Number 019330

Description

Changi Prison Camp, Singapore. c. 1945. Comforts and sweets are issued to released prisoners of war (POWs).

Second from the left: VX56567 Private (Pte) Horace William (Bluey) Reid, 2/29 Battalion, of Launceston, Tasmania

Also, VX32969 Pte Roy Ling Pack (or Lingpack) (rear, bandage around chest), 2/29 Battalion, of North Melbourne, Victoria.