5 May 1916 Alfred Reid ,age 23, 862 Cpl RFC

[suzyf]

Died Kut el Amara,Shumran Camp, Mesopotamia.
Alfred,an air mechanic and my grandma's brother was among the British and Australian air ground crew left behind with the British and Indian army at Kut where they were besieged from 5 December 1915 by the Turkish army with support from Germans and Arabs. The British were starved to surrender on 29 April 2016 and marched 10 miles to a holding camp.
On May 5 they received orders to leave and were issued with 3 days rations by the Turks 3 biscuits per day 3 ozs of jam and a few dates. Alfred and many others had enteritis.
"May 6. Early this morning we buried Corporal Reid,the first of our English party to go " (diary of Cpl Minter Candy ,who died a few months later)
Alfred's family were informed of his death in Dec 1916