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The Reid\u2019s father died in a car accident when Colin was 14, and the \u201cemotional rollercoaster\u201d of piecing together his war activities has provided a way for him to feel more connected to his dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing the youngest in my family, I didn\u2019t get to share in a lot of those family stories with him because I wasn\u2019t around yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously when you\u2019re a kid, your mum and dad are your mum and dad. You don\u2019t really think of either of them as a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, here I am all these years later finding out about the who my dad was.\u201d<\/p>\n
With every new piece of information pushing him forward, Colin holds a \u201crealistic but forlorn hope\u201d that the logbook might be found and returned to him.<\/p>\n
He said that many Ballarat residents have offered their suggestions, and that despite poor health, he will continue to gather information for as long as he\u2019s able to.<\/p>\n
Although much of Colin\u2019s recollection of the logbook is unclear, he recalls putting a distinctive touch on it in his youth.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad let me have a look at it once, and while his back was turned, I\u2019m fairly certain I put ink on my thumb and stamped thumbprints on several of the pages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure I got a smack for that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AN old suitcase somewhere in Ballarat might just be housing a piece of World War II history. The luggage is thought to have been left in the city for decades, and with it a logbook detailing the globe-trotting career of Royal Air Force member William Ainsley Reid. For the past two decades, William\u2019s son Colin […]<\/p>\n