Private Samuel Sidley (10146)

Samuel Samson Sidney was born on 6th November 1886, one of the seven children of Samuel and Mary Sidley.  He was christened at Hanley Castle on 23rd January 1887 while the family were living in Quay Lane, Hanley Castle.

By 1901 the Sidley family were living at Lapstone Alley, Upton-on-Severn.  Around 1909, Samuel Sidley joined the army and served four years with the 2nd Worcestershire Regiment, including time in India, based at Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.  He was transferred to the army reserve around 1913 and worked as a coal miner.

On 27th December 1913 Samuel married Rose Isabel Gleason at St Matthias Church, Malvern Link.  His profession was given as a collier, and it is possible that he was working with his father who was also recorded as a collier.  Both parties resided in Malvern Link, although many men worked away on the South Wales coalfields at this time.

First World War

As an army reservist, Samuel was recalled to the Colours at the beginning of the war.  He landed in France on 12th September 1914 with the 3rd Battalion.  The 3rd Worcesters fought at the Battle of Aisne and the Battle of the Marne in autumn 1914, and in the first Battle of Ypres.  

Samuel was reported as wounded under the date 19th November 1914, although he may have been wounded several days before hand.  On recovery, he was posted as a reinforcement to the 1st Battalion.

Battle of Neuve Chapelle

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, fought between 10th and 13th March 1915, marked the first major British offensive on the Western Front and was intended to break through German lines near the French village of Neuve Chapelle and seize the strategically important Aubers Ridge.

The British attack began with a concentrated artillery bombardment, which initially achieved considerable success by devastating German front-line positions. The Worcestershire Regiment, serving as part of the 24th Brigade in the 8th Division, took part in the advance through difficult conditions and intense fighting. Early gains were significant, with British forces capturing much of the village and pushing the Germans back.

However, the operation soon encountered serious difficulties. Communications broke down, units became disorganised, and higher commanders struggled to understand the rapidly changing situation. Opportunities to exploit the initial breakthrough were missed, allowing German reinforcements to arrive and strengthen their defences. As a result, the attack lost momentum and ultimately failed to achieve its wider strategic objectives.

The 1st Worcesteshire Regiment suffered heavy casualties, including the death of their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel E. C. F. Wodehouse.  Nine officers and and 226 other ranks were killed, a further 37 were posted as missing and a large number wounded.  Besides these losses many officers and men were invalided after the battle from the effects of the strain and exposure of the three days and nights of fighting. 

Samuel was among those posted as missing, but later his death was confirmed.  His body was never identified and today he in commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial ^[1].

Samuel Sidley was also commemorated at Upton-upon-Severn.  Rose Sidley’s younger brother, Horace Gleason Goodman ^[2], was also killed during the Great War.  Harold Cottage was Rose’s parents home.

Family

Samuel and Rose had a daughter, Violet Rosamund, born on 16th March 1915.  Given Samuel’s date of death it is highly likely that he never met his daughter.  By the time she was christened at St Peter’s Cowleigh on 13th May 1915, Samuel was noted as deceased.

After the war, Rose married a London milkman, William Middleton and the family lived at 18 Orde Hall Street, Camden.  By 1939, Violet was living with her mother and step-father at St Mary’s Road, Ealing working as a book keeper at a milk depot.  She married Joseph Chaslot in 1944.