Will Sidney's War - Postcards from the Front

Hello again everyone

If you have followed Will Sidney's WW1 story you will know that he was a bit of a collector of postcards, lots of which he sent to his wartime sweetheart, and later wife, Ethel.

I have tried to include as many of the postcards as I can within the posts that make up Will's overall story, but I still have a fair number that I haven't been able to date. On some Will has written on the back, but nothing that really helps with when they would have been bought or sent, and some it is clear where they are from but not how this necessarily fits into Will's story.

Saying this I still wanted to share them with you as they are still part of Will's WW1 journey, so apologies if they seem a bit randon, but here we go ...

This first group are clearly part of a set, referred to on the back as either 'Regimental Colours', seemingly bought from Boots Cash Chemists ...
... or 'Crests & Colours' designed and printed in Lightcliffe, York ...
Will had six of these postcards and we have no way of knowing where he obtained his collection from ...



These next three postcards are all depicting scenes from Ostende in Belgium. There is no direct mention of Will travelling through Ostend within his diaries, but it is quite possible that he would have done on one of his postings abroad ...


On 28 October 1917 the Battalion war diary states that instructions were received to recall all men from leave, courses etc. On 29 October Will writes, in his own personal war diary, that rumours were going round of the Battalion moving to either Egypt or Salonica. As it happened the battalion ended up moving on to Italy, so I am unsure as to why this postcard would have been in Will's things ...
From a browse of Google it would appear that the tower showing in the postcard is The White Tower of Thessaloniki in Greece, where, during WW1 a large Allied expeditionary force established a base for operations against pro-German Bulgaria.

The next postcard is another from Courtrai, a town in Belgium. The Battle of Courtrai (also known as the Second Battle of Belgium was one of a series of offensives in northern France and southern Belgium that took place in late September and October 1918.

Again there is no mention of Courtrai that I could find in any of Will's diaries and in October 1918 Will was actually in hospital in Turin, so, other than he may have passed through the town at some point and not mentioned it, I can see no explanation as to why Will would have the postcard ...
This next photo is of a statue outside a church somewhere in Belgium, I have been unable to identify any further than that ...

This next postcard appears to have possibly been issued free with a publication of the time, though there is no indicate that this was ever sent ...

From the printing on the reverse it appears that these next two cards were both printed in Germany. I have absolutely no idea how they have made their way into Will's collection ...

Why Will would have had this postcard of Gertie Millar in his collection is unclear ... perhaps he was a fan.

Gertrude "Gertie" Ward, Countess of Dudley (21 February 1879 – 25 April 1952) was an English actress and singer of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies under her maiden name, Gertie Millar.

Beginning her career at age 13, Millar was a prominent star of musical comedies for two decades. She was one of the most prominent West End theatre performers of the early 20th century, starring in such long-running hits as The Toreador (1901), The Orchid (1903) The Spring Chicken (1905), The New Aladdin (1906) The Girls of Gottenberg (1907), Our Miss Gibbs (1909), The Quaker Girl (1910), Gipsy Love (1912), The Dancing Mistress (1912), The Marriage Market (1913) and A Country Girl (1914).

Will makes it quite clear on the reverse of this next postcard that this is where he spent lots of time bathing, though I have trawled through his diary entries, whilst in Italy, and can find no mention of Verona at all ...

This next card appears to be one that Will would have sent to Ethel at some point. I have no idea of when or where from ...

This is the very last postcard in Will's WW1 collection. It is unclear when it was sent, though it is addressed to Mrs WP Sidney, so must have been after they were married in November 1918 ... it appears to be postmarked Sunderland, but I can't decipher the date ...

So that's it then ... the very last of Will's WW1 postcard collection. I do hope you've enjoyed them. I know that I've shared a fair number of cards that Will sent Ethel across the course of my previous posts but I do still have a few left to show you, so hopefully I will be back soon with these 😀

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Will Sidney's War - Images from WW1

Hi there everyone

This post has certainly been a long time coming ... I last wrote about William Preston Sidney in November 2018 ... It was 22 June 1919 and Will had finally been demobilised from the British Army.

Will had certainly paid his dues, having volunteered for the Territorial Force in February 1913, being mobilised in Doncaster on 4 August 1914, serving three postings abroad to France, Belgium and Italy and spending months on end in hospital. There is no doubt though that Will was one of the lucky ones, having made it through such an epic journey where so many others had fallen.

If you are new to Will's story and want to find out more, you can find all of my previous posts, right back from before the start of WW1 here.

I do plan to share what little we know of Will's life after the war, but before I do that I want to share the last bits and pieces that were included with Will's things ... starting with this group of photographs, which I haven't been able to fit within his overall story ...

You can find Will just to the right of middle in this first photograph. He is wearing a white shirt and waistcoast and is holding what appears to be a grooming brush. You can just see a horse behind the group of men. From this I am assuming that that this would have been taken early in the war, when Will was still a Shoeing Smith in the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons. It could have been taken on Salisbury Plain, whilst Will was waiting for his first posting ... the tents do look very similar to another photo we have that confirms this, by the date on the back, or it could just as easily have been taken during his first posting ...

I think that this second photo would have been taken at around the same time ... again the only clue is that Will would appear to still be acting as a Shoeing Smith ... this time Will is smack bang in the centre, in between the two chaps wearing caps ...
This next picture shoes Will in action actually shoeing a horse ...
It would seem that this photo was sent to his sweetheart, Ethel, as Will has written on the reverse ...
In this next photo we can see from the horseshoe badge on Will's right arm that he was still with the QOYD. He stayed with the Dragoons until January 1917, when he transferred to the 8th Battalion of the York & Lancaster Regiment ...

Again ... it would seem that this was another photo that was either sent or given to Ethel, with Will's best love ...
These next photos get a little more confusing. I assumed they must have been taken after October 1917 as Will has marked the reverse of one as 'Cpl Sidney' and his diary confirms that he became a Corporal after displaying 'gallantry in the field' in October 1917 ...

The writing on the reverse of this photo made it quite intriguing. I couldn't decide whether Sgt Major Tate was really being awarded the DCM or whether it was a bit of a spoof, as it appears that a feather duster is being held above the shoulder of the chap on the left ...
This next photo is of the same situation but this time you can vaguely see the hand made poster behind, which seems to indicate that the award may have had something to do with Sgt Major Tate's disposition... though sadly I can't read the detail. It's also difficult to say for certain whether Will is in the photo, though he does seem to indicate that he is from what he's written on the back ...
Having seen that Will seems to have referred to himself as 'The Jolliboy' I've had a dig back through some other bits and pieces and found this ...

So ... now everything is crystal clear. These photos must have been taken in September 1918, when Will was in the 29 Stationary Hospital in Italy. You can see the list of 'characters' about half way down includes Sgt Major Harry Tate and Pte Jolliboy ... duly played by our very own Cpl Sidney.

I can't tell you how pleased I was to finally be able to work out what these photos were actually of and when and where they were taken ... mystery solved and Sgt Major Tate was definitely not really being awarded the DMC ... not on this occasion anyway ... and we think that the small chap with the weird hairstyle is definitely our Will.

I have had no such luck with this next picture. Will is definitely on the left, but I can see no clues as to where or when it would have been taken ...

There are just three more war time photos that I have found ... none of them appear to be Will and we have no real way of knowing for sure who any of them are or when they were taken. We do know that two of Will's brothers, Charlie and Herbert were definitely in the army, so two of the men could quite possibly be them ...

Charlie also served with the York & Lancasters, whilst Herbert was in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).

As well as these photographs I still have a number of cards and postcards to share, before moving on to Will's life after the war. Hopefully I will be able to share these with you soon.

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Will Sidney's War - January 1919 - Heading for Home

Hi there everyone

In my last post about Will Sidney's WW1 it was 1 January 1919 and we left Will in Hospital, in France, waiting to come home.

"2 Th - Still in the 57 Hospital. Sent a letter to Ethel by a chum to post in England. I do wish she was here to nurse me. I am very lonely. God bless & protect her."

 "3 Fri - Still here. Writ a letter to Ethel. Got up @ 8 o'c. Writ to Lil. Had a fine tea by the YMCA people. Cigs etc. Thinking of my darling wife. Wishing she were here."

"4 Sat - Writ to darling wife. Still here. No chance to give her my address. I wish I could. Nothing doing of any importance. Writ to RSM @ Vaje Camp & Ernest in France. Very wet & windy night - awful. Wondering & thinking what my own darling is doing. I do wish I was by her side to comfort her & make her happy."

 "5 Sun - Still in the 57 Gen Hosp. Written a letter to darling Ethel. God bless her. Stopping of letters being censored. A good job. Rumours going round of a vacuation that is going tomorrow. Marked for the vac. Writ to darling Ethel telling her the good news."

"6 Mon - Set off @ 6.45 to the train. Left Marseille @ 11.30. Landed @ La Havre. Nice & sunny on the way."

"7 Tues - Passed the night on the train. Fairly comfy. Nothing to grumble @ for it will bring me nearer to darling Ethel. Passed through Givors-Canal, Salon, Leyanne, La Clayette (Baudemont), Nevers, Verseille & Rouen & Le Havre."

It took a good few hours and lots of scouring maps of the French railway network to decipher Will's route. We are assuming that from Marseille his first stop must have been Salon (de Provence), though Will puts this as his second stop. Following the map takes us to Givors-Canal and then Lyon, which we think Will has referred to as "Leyanne". From there his description is quite straightforward.

"8 Wed - Another night on the train. Thinking of darling wife. Wish she were here. Arrived in La Havre @ 4.30. Couldn't get on board on account of  the engine being off the rails. Had to spend another night on the train. Worse luck. Thinking of darling Ethel. "

"9 Th - In bed by 1/2 past 6. Left the train @ 7.30 & went aboard the St Patrick. Set sail from Le Havre @ 9 o'c & had a very rough journey. Landed @ 5 o'c @ Southampton. Went from there to Aldershot. Landed @ 9.30pm. Sent a PC to Ethel. Am now going to write her a letter."

Image courtesy of ... http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMHSStPatrick.html

"10 Fri - Nothing to do but think of Ethel. MO came round & said nothing. Carry on as per usual."

"11 - Sat - Nothing striking. Wish she was here so we could have a nice chat & a walk round. Anxiously waiting for a letter from darling Ethel. Hoping to hear by tomorrow (Sunday). Will write after the Doctor has been round tomorrow & let her know the news."

"12 Sun - Received a registered letter from darling Ethel telling me of the news. I do wish she were here so I could comfort her. Answered it straight away."

 "13 Mon - Still in Dock. Medical marked me up for my 10 days leave to be sent to unit for demobilise. Writ to Ethel telling her of my coming."

"15 Wed - Left Aldershot for home. Sent a telegram to Ethel. Arrived 1/4 to 8." 

Will's official war record shows him as having been admitted to the Connought Hospital in Aldershot on 9 January 1918 and discharged on 15 January 1918, which ties in exactly with his own diary entries.
This is quite difficult to read but the name of the hospital clearly shows as being the Connought and the dates can also be read as 9.1.18 and 15.1.18. The 'Disease' column seems to read 'G.S.W.', which we believe indicates a gun shot wound. He was in for 7 days and his discharge notes are very hard to read but indicate that there is no evidence of lesion and that Will's shoulder moves perfectly well under persuasion.

It seems Will was issued with a ration book to cover the period of his 10 days leave and we have located this in his things.
From the looks of it he didn't use many of the stamps, but it's fascinating to think that this was the actual ration book that he was issued with, just over 100 years ago.

So, it's 15 January 1919 and Will is just beginning 10 days leave ... are we finally coming towards the end of his WW1 journey?

Will Sidney's War - December 1918 - Re-engagement

Hi there everyone

I have been so remiss 😞It has been an absolute age since I've let you have an update on Will Sidney's WW1 story.

I last posted in June of last year. It was November 1918, the Armistice had been signed and Will was on a month's re-engagement leave, following a long hospitalisation in Italy with a problem with his neck.

Whilst on leave Will and Ethel finally tied the knot.

It's now time to find out what happened to Will at the end of his re-engagement leave.

You would be forgiven for thinking, with the Armistice having been signed, that there may have been little point in Will taking back up his posting.

Sadly, things were not quite that simple.

There were no entries to be found for December in Will's 1918 diary, but we have found this entry at the beginning of his 1919 diary.

Having read it through it just seems absolutely crazy to me that Will didn't get to see the 'MO' before he left England. Hopefully things are a little more efficient these days!

Will tells us ...

"Arrived Southampton 20/12/18"

"Left Southampton 20/12/18"

"Arrived Cherbourg 21st"

 "Left Cherbourg 22nd"

"Rough journey across wondering whether all is well with Darling Ethel. God bless her. Sent her 6 or 7 letters."

"Landed @ Arquata @ 11pm 26.12.18. Sent a card to Ethel."

"Writ to Ethel a letter with cards. Saw the MO the next morning, marked a medical B. Got put to. Sent a letter to Ethel telling her the good news. Writ to Ma let know. Very cold. No hot water bottle (God Bless her, Ha ha). Can't help but smile."

"Went into hospital 51 Section 28.12.18"

"Went from there to Genoa 29.12.18. Writ to Ethel from Genoa."

"Went from Genoa 51 Stn to France. Started @ 7.30 30.12.18."

"Landed @ Marseille @ 7.30. Stayed on the train until 1.30pm. Whilst on the train I ..."

 "... writ to darling Ethel. How pleased she will be to think I am so near home."

"Left Marseille @ 11.30 for Le Havre. Landed @ 4pm."

"New Year's Eve in the 57 General Station @ Marseilles and New Year's Day." 

You can see that Will writes of landing in Arquata on 26 December 1918. In his things we have found this card and I think we can safely assume it is the one that he is referring to ...

This set of cards was also with Will's things. We have no way of telling when they were sent but they seem to infer that the war is over, so it could have been about this time ...

So, it is 1 January 1919 and Will is, yet again, in hospital in France, waiting to come back home. Surely it won't be long now before Will's war is over and he and Ethel are re-united.