Guy Reid
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Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Lincolnshire, England
Guy Patrick Spence Reid | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 May 1897 Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain |
| Died | 16 October 1917 (aged 20) Lincolnshire, England |
| Buried | Newport Cemetery, Lincoln 53°14′27″N 0°32′03″W / 53.24083°N 0.53417°W |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1917 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Seaforth Highlanders No. 20 Squadron RFC |
| Battles / wars | World War I • Western Front |
| Awards | Military Cross |
Captain Guy Patrick Spence Reid MC (18 May 1897 – 16 October 1917) was a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.[1]
Reid was born in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife,[2] the son of Thomas Miller Reid and his wife Lisette (née Livings).[3] His father was the British Vice-Consul there.[2]
After passing out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) regiment on 11 August 1915.[4] Reid was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 1693 on 4 September, after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military School, Farnborough,[5] and on 21 October he was appointed a flying officer, seconded to the Royal Flying Corps.[6]
Reid was sent to France in January 1916,[2] to serve in No. 20 Squadron RFC. He gained his first aerial victory on 7 February, when he won the first clash between a Fokker Eindekker and the FE.2b by driving off the German aircraft with a smoking engine.[7] By 6 September, he had run his score up to five,[8] becoming one of the 44 aces that would serve in No. 20 Squadron during the war.[9]
He was awarded the Military Cross on 26 September,[8] and on 30 October he was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain.[10] In December he returned to England to serve as a flying instructor at an RFC base in Lincolnshire,[2] and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1917.[11]
On 16 October 1917, while instructing Second Lieutenant Cameron of Aberdeen, their aircraft crashed from a height of 900 feet (270 m) and both men were killed. He was, at the time, engaged to Miss Margaret Sheldon of Chelmsford.[2] He is buried in Newport Cemetery, Lincoln.[3]
