When I visited Lone Pine Cemetery and Memorial in November 2024, I took a photo of a headstone at random, which belonged to Cyril Lindsey Reid. It was not until I decided to research Cyril that I discovered the incredible story of himself, his brother Mordaunt and the heartbreak that Mordaunt’s wife, Pauline, had to endure.

Lots of this information was found in ‘The Nameless Names – Recovering the Missing Anzacs’ by Scott Bennett. I would highly encourage anyone interested to look at his work.

I should also add, on the CWGC database, his first name is spelt 'Mordant,' however in various other sources it is spelt 'Mordaunt.'

Mordaunt Leslie Reid was born at Victoria on the 22nd of August 1881 to Donald and Mary Reid, and he was one of 11 siblings.

He grew up in Pukawidgee, near Deniliquin, New South Wales. He went to school in Melbourne and went onto ‘The Working Mans College’ where he graduated in Electrical Engineering.

He married Pauline Esmer Victoria Dowd in Melbourne in 1905, and in the same year they both moved to Coolgardie, Western Australia (WA) where Mordaunt became the manager of the Electrical Supply Company of WA.

Mordaunt’s older brother, Leonard, had fought in the Boer War which deeply inspired him. Due to Australia’s military training system, Mordaunt became the area trainer for the Coolgardie, Southern Cross and Norseman districts. In 1910, he was the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Goldfields Infantry Regiment.

At the outbreak of war, Mordaunt enlisted in the 11th Battalion Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as a Second Lieutenant at Kalgoorlie on the 7th of September 1914. On the 1st of February 1915, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Mordaunt’s younger brother, Cyril Reid, had also enlisted in the 7th Battalion AIF and likely unknown to them, they would both be landing on Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on the 25th of April 1915. In early December 1914, they arrived in Egypt and on the 25th of April 1915, the 11th Battalion was to be in the first wave of troops attacking at Anzac Cove.

Landing at 4:30am, Mordaunt lead his party of 60 off the beach, and up ‘Battlefield Hill’ where he was shot in the thigh. After crawling into a bush for cover, he was never seen again.

This was to begin many years of an agonising search for the truth of her husband’s fate, and through her nursing she was able to travel to Egypt and joined the staff of Number 2 Australia Hospital, where she continued on her search.

Bugler Frederick Ashton had been wounded with Mordaunt, and despite being classed as missing, it was later revealed that he was a prisoner of war, along with 50 other Australians. In April 1916, she was informed that Mordaunt was considered ‘killed in action,’ however this did not discourage her.

Pauline’s hopes were shattered when she received a letter from Bugler Frederick Ashton to say Mordaunt was not with him as a prisoner. She continued to work in the Red Cross until the final prisoners of war were returned, and Mordaunt Leslie Reid was heartbreakingly not one of them.

Mordaunt Leslie Reid is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, along with 4987 other ANZAC men who have no known grave. His brother, Cyril Reid, is buried in Lone Pine Cemetery, which is overlooked by the memorial.

The brothers were stones throw from one another on the beaches in combat, in death and now are commemorated close together in perpetuity.