Andrew Keirs Murdochson Reid, AFC, MA, Dip Ed,
flying instructor and
schoolteacher; born June 5, 1911, died October 3, 1999
ANDREW Reid was awarded the Air Force Cross for his outstanding contribution to the training of fighter and bomber pilots during the Second World War. He later returned to schoolteaching and became a depute rector.
He was born in Lochgelly, Fife, one of five children of a property agent. His elder sister died at 18 after contracting hepatitis during nursing training, and he lost a brother at the same age to meningitis.
After his education at Beith High School in Cowdenbeath, where he excelled at sports and was captain of the rugby 1st XV, he attended St Andrews Univ-ersity and graduated MA in
English and history. He also captained the 1st XV at university and was a cadet in the Officers Training Corps.
Following graduation, he and another former student joined a French trader selling coffee and hides around the Red Sea
coast and Ethiopia. After the
Italian invasion of 1935, he returned home to take his
diploma in education at Moray House, Edinburgh.
Several temporary teaching posts followed before he
was appointed teacher of Eng-lish and history at Dunfermline High School.
Shortly before the outbreak of war, he went to the Army to claim his commission, but was refused permission by Fife education committee. He then offered his services to the Royal Air Force who enlisted him as an Aircraftman, 2nd Class.
He was selected to be a pilot and was sent to Scone, Birmingham, and Newquay for flying training, initially in Tiger Moth biplanes. His aptitude marked him out as instructor material, and, since it was no longer
possible to train pilots in the
UK, he was posted to flight training schools under the Empire Training Scheme in Rhodesia and Canada.
After the introduction of the lend-lease deal with the US, service wives were able to join their husbands by sailing the Atlantic on empty liberty ships returning to America and his wife, Janet, went to Canada this way.
Reid trained future young bomber and fighter pilots in Alberta and Ontario, and was eventually appointed an instructor of instructors. He then
joined the headquarters staff
and became a Squadron Leader in Winnipeg.
He was later decorated with the Air Force Cross for his exceptional contribution to the training of pilots.
In 1946, after demobilisation, he returned to Dunfermline High and was made the first head of the history department. Known affectionately as AKM (there were three Reids on the teaching staff) he dedicated much of his spare time to coaching pupils in rugby and tennis.
After many years in a profession to which he was obviously suited, he was promoted to depute rector. He retired in
1976, aged 65.
However, his passion for his-tory and, in particular, heraldry, continued. He lectured ladies' guilds and church organisations on the history of Dunfermline Abbey, where he was an elder, and shared his extensive knowledge of the kings of Scotland.
He undertook research before the completion of the Abbey's Bruce Window, and during his projects was frequently in
touch with the Lord Lyon, King of Arms.
He also designed school badges, including the present Dunfermline High School badge, and Cowdenbeath's town crest, as well as many others.
A home-loving, modest, and humorous man who served his country and was devoted to
children's education, Reid is
survived by his wife,
Janet, daughter, Jan, and
two granddaughters.
Campbell Thomas
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