By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
SOME grandchildren can only dream of walking in the footsteps of their great-grandfather, who served in both world wars, but as Anzac Day approached, 15-year-old Travis Reid did just that.
In February the Narre Warren teenager was one of several students who were awarded the coveted 2013-14 Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize by Denis Napthine.
These school holidays he travelled overseas for a study tour of historic World War I battle sites in Greece, Turkey, Belgium and France.
But he said the highlight was visiting Gallipoli.
“I had the privilege of walking along Anzac Cove where they landed on 25 April 1915, where I saw firsthand the hardship they would have had to endure in trying to surpass the enemy’s defences,” he said.
“I also walked along the Nek, Shrapnel Valley, Razorback and many other ridges in the area.
“We also visited many cemeteries in Gallipoli such as Ari Burnu, Lone Pine, Quinn’s Post, Shell Green and Beach Cemetery.”
Travis’s great-grandfather, Archibald Reid, fought in World War I as part of the 3rd Divisional Signals Company.
For his service in World War I and World War II, Archibald received several accolades including the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, the War Medal and the Australia Service Medal.
“He was in the Australian 3rd Division where he fought on the Western Front in France and Belgium and also fought in the major battles at Messines, Broodseinde Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens and the St Quentin Canal,” Travis said.
“I had the privilege of seeing the battlefields and terrain in which he and so many other soldiers fought in and it allowed to me to understand the true hardship and struggle that he would have gone through and much more during the Great War.”
Travis applied for the Anzac Prize last year through his humanities class at Fountain Gate Secondary School in which the award had been set as a class project.
Along with other classmates, Travis wrote an essay on what can be learned from the Anzac spirit.
“I would like to thank my teacher Miss Irving from Fountain Gate Secondary College for encouraging and supporting my entry in the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize Competition,” he said.
“I had a trip of a lifetime and I recommend all year nine and 10 students to enter the 2015 competition particularly as it is the centenary anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
“I would also like to thank my great grandfather and the many soldiers that fought and/or died alongside him during the Great War, enabling all Australians to enjoy the privilege of freedom in a democratic society.”
