Major Robert Edward Reid TD Royal Engineers
The Man Robert Edward Reid enlisted into the Royal Engineers (RE), Territorial Army (TA) with service number 2072417 during the mid to late 1930s. He was mobilised and embedded at the outbreak of World War II seeing service in North Africa and promoted to Sergeant. At the end of the War he was awarded the 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45 and the Efficiency Medal. During 1945 he became an Officer Cadet and on 5th August awarded a Regular Army, Emergency Commission in the RE with a new service number of 352543 and at the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, promoted Lieutenant on 15th.
On 26th November 1948, he was transferred back into TA RE as Lieutenant and promoted to Captain on 1st June 1951. He was awarded the Coronation Medal 1953 and promoted to Major on 8th October 1956, being seconded for service on the Staff.
During 1961 he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration ‘Territorial’ and on 6th July transferred from the active list to the TA Reserve of Officers, presumably on age grounds.
On 26th November 1948, he was transferred back into TA RE as Lieutenant and promoted to Captain on 1st June 1951. He was awarded the Coronation Medal 1953 and promoted to Major on 8th October 1956, being seconded for service on the Staff.
During 1961 he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration ‘Territorial’ and on 6th July transferred from the active list to the TA Reserve of Officers, presumably on age grounds.
The Story The group of medals awarded to Robert Edward Reid were acquired rom E-Bay in June 2020 following an offer made. The group had previously been seen at the Stratford Upon Avon Medal Fair in March, and mentally tucked away to buy if it were still on sale at the next fair (post 2020 lockdown). The interest was in the double long service combination of an Efficiency Decoration ‘Territorial’ and Efficiency Medal ‘Territorial’ the combination of which thus far was not in this collection.
Unfortunately due to a quite common name no detail could be confirmed on Ancestry.UK. Despite taking 55 years off the date of Robert’s transfer to the Reserve of Officers in 1961, presumably having reached 55 = 1906, and assuming he joined the TA aged about 19 in 1935 = 1916, a search using year of birth between 1906-16 still led to three possible matches. Without any definitive confirmatory link it is not possible to say which is the correct man. However details from the London Gazette and Coronation Medal Roll were available and allowed his service career to be put together.
Unfortunately due to a quite common name no detail could be confirmed on Ancestry.UK. Despite taking 55 years off the date of Robert’s transfer to the Reserve of Officers in 1961, presumably having reached 55 = 1906, and assuming he joined the TA aged about 19 in 1935 = 1916, a search using year of birth between 1906-16 still led to three possible matches. Without any definitive confirmatory link it is not possible to say which is the correct man. However details from the London Gazette and Coronation Medal Roll were available and allowed his service career to be put together.
Medal Details:
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Africa Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Defence Medal: Unnamed as awarded.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
- Coronation Medal 1953: Unnamed as awarded.
- Efficiency Decoration: 1961
- Efficiency Medal: 2072417. SJT. R.E.REID. R.E.
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This page last updated 8 Jun 20