Aussie digger known as ‘Arabic’ Clem Reid served in 7th Australian Light Horse at Gallipoli and in the Middle East

WORLD War I veteran Clem Reid was such a fascinating character his great niece Simone Meakin knew she had to capture his story before it was too late.

Clem Reid served in the 7th Light Horse Brigade and the 2nd Machine Gun Squadron during World War I. Here he is pictured when he was in his early 20s

CLEM Reid was such a fascinating character his great niece Simone Meakin knew she had to capture his story before it was too late.

Ms Meakin was 23 when she sat down with the 95-year-old Reid at his Glenelg home in 1987 for a broad-ranging interview about his life.

“I was always struck by Clem’s stories,” Ms Meakin says.

“He was such an unusual guy, very open-minded which was unusual for that generation in my experience.

“He’d seen an awful lot and was a bit of a local identity and I just thought I should document some of his stories.

“I think it’s really worthwhile to sit down and hear his life because I guess these days you just don’t experience the same sorts of things and the hardships that someone of his generation did.”

Reid in his early 20s

Born in Beltana in 1892, one of nine children, Reid had Chilean and Irish ancestry.

He became a stockman and worked various jobs around the country before war broke out in 1914.

He enlisted in the Light Horse on November 4, 1914, and served with the 7th Australian Light Horse.

He arrived at Gallipoli 10 days after the Anzac landing on April 25, 1915, and served there for six months before serving in the Middle East.

He was twice wounded in action, including being shot in his right arm in the 1917 Battle of Beersheba after he had seen an officer shot and took the reins of his horse to continue across the plain.

“It was all about mateship to him,” Ms Meakin says of Reid’s reflections on war.

“He made some lifelong friends there and he was basically saying when you’re in the trenches with someone you’re all equals.

“It doesn’t matter where you came from ... you’re all in the moment together.”

Reid pictured enjoying a snack with mates.

After the war Reid became a nurse, primarily dealing with and supporting other men.

Ms Meakin says Reid was happy-go-lucky and took life one day at a time.

“He liked a chat, he liked a yarn, and would spin a story.

“I think that’s how he got through life being a happy soul overall.”

A Light Horse Brigade postcard.

She says remembering the service of veterans is vital as some of the things Reid and others faced were “unimaginable”.

“When I look at what people were going through 100 years ago and some of the abominations these young blokes saw at the Western Front and Gallipoli, really, my heart goes out to them.

“Our nation really should remember all these guys and anyone else who’s been sacrificing their lives for our nation.”

Reid’s postcard of a sunset on the River Nile, Egypt.

Reid’s niece Leonie Sincock, Ms Meakin’s mother, says in his time in the Middle East he developed a great affection for the Arab people and recalled them fondly.

“His mates used to call him Arabic with affection because, I presume, of his olive and sunburnt skin and black hair,” Mrs Sincock, of Hallett Cove, says.

“He was quite a character and Mr Reid, as he was known locally, used to be well-known along Jetty Rd, Glenelg, among the shopkeepers.

“He was polite, well read and well spoken, and was always dressed neatly in his suit and hat.”

THIS story is part of Messenger’s 100 Years, 100 Days, 100 Stories project, which will profile 100 South Australian World War I heroes as the nation builds up to the centenary of the Allied landing on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. If you have the details and war record of a family member who served during World War I, let us know. Please go to your local Messenger’s Facebook page and send us the details.

CLEM REID SAYS (EXCERPTS FROM SIMONE MEAKIN’S 1987 INTERVIEW)

On life in the trenches:

Well, I am a fatalist, you see. If you are going to go, you are going to go. No good worrying about it. Well, we was on Gallipoli and we had a torrid time. I was there just on six months and we relieved at Lone Pine, after that big attack there. You heard people saying oh, patriotism and all that, but our trenches were only three yards apart and we seen a lot of our fellows, hot weather, they were all dead and bloated up and that sort of thing. Turks too, the same.

There were some very tragic incidents there. I lost a lot of good mates.

On mateship during the war:

That’s the greatest thing I found out when I enlisted in the army. It doesn’t matter if a man was a millionaire right next to you, or like me, only a hobo. It didn’t make any difference, we were all mates.

On the secret to a long life:

Peace of mind. If you can’t do a person a good turn, don’t do him a bad turn.

On life itself:

I wouldn’t wish for anything, just to live the life that I have lived and I don’t think I’ve got any enemies and I don’t dislike anyone in this world. I might dislike certain aspects in life, but you have peace of mind, and they call it happiness.

On his nickname ‘Arabic’:

This is funny. When we were AWOL in Cairo, see our fellows, our regiment, had all come and they hadn’t picked me up then. We were in a big cafe in Cairo, a big crowd there, and a young woman I knew very well before I went away, I had a fez on. One of the blokes got a fez and he put it on my head and just as he put that on this woman came up to me and threw her arms around me and said, ‘Oh, my Arabic friend, come back again’ and this bloke said to me, “I always thought you were a bloody Arab, Reidy”. That was my nickname and even in Glenelg a lot of fellows know me now, they call me ‘Arabic’. At our reunion in Sydney, I was so well known, and all by my nickname, ‘Arabic’. See I burned, out at Gallipoli and that, I was burned up, and that’s how I got the nickname, ‘Arabic’.

On life at Glenelg:

In Glenelg people say “Hullo Mr Reid, how are you?” I don’t know them from a bar of soap. I suppose I have met them, but you know. Everybody is so jolly good to me in Glenelg. Women help me over intersections and I had a bloke here this morning. I have got to step high stepping off the footpath and he helped me over. So jolly nice.

Originally published as Aussie digger known as ‘Arabic’ Clem Reid served in 7th Australian Light Horse at Gallipoli and in the Middle East