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 😀

*********************************************************************************

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.

*********************************************************************************

Will Sidney's War - In Graylingwell

Will's own diary record and his official war record differ slightly in the date they show Will as coming 'Back to Blighty' from his second posting to France.

His personal diary shows this as being on 5 March 1917, his war record shows 8 March 1917, though this also shows him being admitted to Graylingwell hospital on 5 March, so these dates are a little uncertain.

What is certain is that sometime early in March 1917, Will was admitted to Graylingwell hospital in Chichester with pains in his head and limbs - or PUO, Pyrexia of unknown origin.

This wasn't Will's first stay in hospital whilst on active service.  His official war record also shows a stay in the Beaufort War Hospital in Bristol in 1916.  It seems that following Will's return from his first posting to France in June 1916 he was admitted to hospital with appendicitis.  He spent 96 days in hospital before being discharged on 16 September, just a couple of months before being posted back to France for the second time.

We have a few postcards which Will must have sent to Ethel during his time in Graylingwell.

Will was discharged from Graylingwell  on 20 April 2017, after being there for 45 days.  His next posting was to Sunderland from 30 April.  It appears that Will was late in reporting to Sunderland as his war record shows that he overlapped a furlough and was docked 2 days pay on 3 May 1917.

We know that Will visited Doncaster on his way through to Sunderland.  The two photographs shown below were taken of Will at F J Seaman's Photographers in Doncaster on 27 April 1917. Whilst we can find no evidence to confirm this, we are certain that Will would have spent some time seeing his family and Ethel en route from Graylingwell to Sunderland.

Will spent the rest of May and the beginning of June in Sunderland before being posted back to France, for the third time, on 9 June 1917.

Will Sidney's War - December 1916-March 1917 - Second Posting to France

You will know from my previous post that Will returned from his first posting to France in June 1916.  We have no real record of Will's activity between his return from his first trip to France in June 1916 and his return for the second time on Christmas Day 1916.

We know from his official war record that on 27 September 1917 Will was 'Posted SS', which we assume means he was posted as a Shoeing Smith.  His whereabouts detailed in the back of his 1917 diary confirms that he left again for France on 25 December 1916, Christmas Day.

On 14 January 1917, whilst in France, Will was transferred from 'C' Squadron of the Queens Own Yorkshire Dragoons to the 8th Battalion of the York & Lancaster Regiment.  It's at this point that Will's personal war diaries begin, by telling us on 13 January 1917 that he received a letter from home.

Whether or not Will received or sent letters seems to have been of utmost importance to him, being mentioned in his diaries on an almost daily basis.

Will's diaries also give us some of his really personal thoughts, especially of his feelings for his Darling Ethel, who is referred to with unfailing regularity.  It is clear from his diaries that his thoughts were constantly of her. We can imagine that during some of the really difficult times that Will faced, whilst at war, the thoughts of eventually getting home to be with Ethel were what kept him going.

In places Will's diary is confusing with pages having actually been bound in an incorrect order, whether this was done purposely we do not know.  On occasion Will has also re-dated pages.  We have done our best to ensure that our recount of his story is in the correct order.

As the diary is difficult to read I will transcribe the most interesting parts as we go along.

13 Sun - Got a letter from home.

14 Mon - Out in Brigade Support working for the REs on road work from 9 to 3.  No letters.

15 Tues - Still on the same job.  Return from work about 4 o'c.  No news from anybody.

16 Wed - Still on same sort of work.  Finished @ same time.  No news from anybody.

17 Th - Still on the same job.  Finish @ 3pm.  Dinner 4.30.  Supper 7.  No letters from anybody.

18 Fri - Still on REs job.  Very cold.  No news from anyone.  Thinking of Ethel & I wish I could see her.

19 Sat - Still on same game for the REs.  Still thinking of Darling Ethel.  I do wish I could have a letter from her. 

This week it appears that Will was working in support of the Royal Engineers on road work.  You can see that he mentions whether or not he has received letters every single day.  You can also start to see how his thoughts are constantly of Ethel.

20 Sun - Work for REs until 12pm.  Went into front line @ 5.15pm.  Letter from Ethel.

21 Mon - Stand to 6.30am.  Stand down 7.15am.  Had to work from 9.15am to 12.30 & from 2 to 4.  Stand to 5.15pm.  Down 6.30.  No news from anybody.

22 Tues - Same as yesterday plenty of work.  No news of anybody.  Thinking of Ethel. Bless her.  On guard all night.

23 Wed - Same as yesterday.  No news from anybody.  Rest for the night.

24 Th - Same as yesterday.  No news from Ethel.  Wondering how she is.  On guard all night.

25 Fri - Same job as yesterday.  No news from anybody.  Thinking of Ethel.  A nights rest.

26 Sat - Same as yesterday.  Still no news.  Wondering whether darling is ill or not. On guard again.  I am feeling very tired.  No letters.

This week we hear Will mention being on the front line for the first time, though all seems quiet. He seems quite tired and concerned at the lack of news from home.

27 Sun - Same as yesterday.

28 Mon - Writ to Ethel, Rosie, Annie, Elsie, Missus Jackson, Uncle & Aunt, Charlie, Jim, Harold.  No letters from anybody.  Thinking of Ethel.  Wondering how she is.

29 Tues - Still in the trenches doing 5 more extra days.  Working all day.  Fired on range just behind front line.  No guard.  Letter from Ethel.

30 Wed - Still in front lines working from 9 - 12.30.  Range 2.0 - 2.45.  Working in front line.  No letters from anybody.  Fired on range.  Guard all night.  No sleep.

31 Th - Still in front line.  Went firing on the range @ 9.0 after working in F line. Rest this afternoon.  Finished @ 4.30.  Went to bed @ 7.

1 Fri - Stand to 6.15.  SD 7.30.  Work all day.  Range for an hour.  Letter from Ethel. Sent her a ........  Guard all night.  No sleep.

2 Sat - Warned to take charge of party for Div Range Competition 45 & 67 ....  No chance to write letters to anybody.  Thinking of Darling Ethel.

Unfortunately there are a few instances where I have been unable to interpret what Will is saying. Where this is the case I have just included ..... in my transcript.

You will also be seeing the individual information and illustrations that are showing on each page of the diary. This week shows an illustration of a Sikh Warrior wearing a turban, which conceals a curious steel weapon.

3 Sun - Went to range to get all the .......  No letters from anyone.

4 Mon - Rev 6.  B 7.  P 7.30 for ranges.  No letters from anybody.  Thinking of Ethel.

5 Tues - Same as per usual @ the range Div Rifle meeting.  No news.  Wondering if Ethel has got my letter.

6 Wed - Same as yesterday.  No news.  Thinking of Darling Ethel.

7 Th - Same as usual.  No news from anybody.  Wondering what is the matter with everybody.

8 Fri - Rev 6.30.  B 7.45.  Parade full marching 9.  Drill orders 9.30 for Coy drill & P.J. No news from Ethel.  Worrying about her.  Put on guard from 4pm to 4pm (Sat).

9 Sat - On guard.  Cleaning up for CO.  CO been and inspected the guard & said it was a good one (complimented).  Small parcel with writing pad & cigs from Mother. Nothing from Ethel.  Wondering if she is ill or not.  God bless her.

The abbreviations that Will uses in his entries this week appear constantly throughout his diaries:

• Rev or 'R' - Reveille
• 'B' - Breakfast
• 'P' - Parade
• CO - Commanding Officer

10 Sun - Church Parade 9.45am.  Parade 1/4 to 2 football match.

This is where Will's diary entries end for a while.  His official war record shows that on 10 February he "Joined 8th Batt in Field"  and on 13 February he was "Admitted Lyo Pyrexia".  

11 February 1917 was Ethel's 20th birthday and we have the birthday card that Will sent to her, presumably before he was taken ill.  It includes a small book of poems.  You can see the card and the book of poems here.

Will's whereabouts list shows he "Left for Blighty" on 5 March 1917, presumably earlier than intended.  I will tell you more about what happened to Will upon his return to Blighty in my next post.