Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Grave: | Haringhe (Bandaghem) Military Cemetery | V. C. 5. | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.135 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 39B GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/Warbleton.html
Family :
Sydney Robert Slidel was born at 56 Binstead Road, in the Buckland area of Portsmouth on 3 April 1882, the youngest child of Charles Slidel (1843–1913), a Royal Nay pensioner, and his wife Sarah Ann née O’Brien (1851–1933).Charles Slidel, originally from the St. Pancras area of London signed on as a 16 year old “boy 2nd class” in the Royal Navy in April 1860 and served on various vessels including HMS Minotaur, Monarch and Hector, before retiring from the navy in July 1879. He married Sarah O’Brien (from Devon) at Portsmouth in 1868 and the couple had four children (two sons and two daughters) between 1870 and 1882. At the time of Sydney’s birth, Charles described himself as a “writer”.
At the time of the 1891 census, the family were living at 22 Tottenham Road, in Fratton when Charles gave his occupation as “Writer, Civil Service (Pensioner from Haslar Hospital)”.
By 1911, Sydney had left the family home and was lodging with Phillis Reed, a widow, and her daughter, also Phillis, at 96 Pevensey Road, Eastbourne. Sydney and the younger Phillis were married at Eastbourne in the spring of 1911 and their first child, also called Phillis was born at Eastbourne on 11 February 1912. (All three women had the second family name of “Watford”.)
A second child, Sydney Charles, was born in 1916, but sadly only survived for seven hours.
Education & Career :
In the 1901 census, 18 year old Sydney was living with his parents at 186 New Road in Buckland, and gave his occupation as “pupil teacher, school board”.
After attending Winchester Training College, he appears to have remained in Portsmouth until the spring of 1909, before taking up a post at East Street Boys’ School in Eastbourne.
He remained in Eastbourne for three years, before he was appointed as head teacher at the village school in Warbleton, near Hailsham in 1912.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 4th Battalion The Lincolnshire Regiment |
1/4th Battalion August 1914 : in Lincoln. Part of Lincoln & Leicester Brigade, North Midland Division. May 1915 : the formation was retitled as 138th Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division. 1 March 1915 : landed at Le Havre. 7 January 1916 : moved with Division from Marseilles to Egypt. 4 February 1916 : embarked at Alexandria and returned to France. 31 January 1918 : transferred to 177th Brigade, 59th (2nd North Midland) Division, absorbing 2/4th Battalion. 8 May 1918 : reduced to cadre strength after suffering heavy casualties. 2 June 1918 : transferred to 49th Brigade, 16th Division. 17 June 1918 : transferred to 102nd Brigade, 34th Division. 27 June 1918 : transferred to 117th Brigade, 39th Division. 27 July 1918 : transferred to 118th Brigade in same Division. 28 September 1918 : transferred to 116th Brigade in same Division. 8 November 1918 : disbanded in France. |
| Action : The Battles of the Lys |
9 April - 29 April 1918. As the first phase of the great German campaign of 1918 lost momentum and failed in its objective to split the British and French armies, subsidiary attacks were shift the balance of the attack and to seek opportunities to exploit other sectors. On the Lys the Germans initially enjoyed spectacular success against a Portuguese Division but the gap was soon plugged and the advance halted.
In May 1909, Sydney enlisted in another volunteer battalion, the 5th Battalion (Cinque Ports), The Royal Sussex Regiment, with which he served until May 1912.
Following the outbreak of the war, Sydney joined the Volunteer Training Corps based at Herstmonceux, where he worked as an instructor. In April 1915, he was “commissioned” as platoon commander.
On 17 November 1915, Sydney enlisted at Eastbourne into the 2/4th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment with service number 3749 (later changed to 201226) and was immediately promoted to sergeant. The 2/4th Battalion was a home service (“second line”) unit based at Horsham until September 1916, when (now the 4th Battalion) it moved to Tunbridge Wells.
In January 1917, Sydney was recommended for training as an officer. His application was accepted on 5 May, as a member of No 7, Officer Cadet Battalion based at Moore Park, Fermoy in County Cork, Ireland. On 21 August 1917, he was commissioned as a (temporary) second lieutenant in the Lincolnshire Regiment and, after another brief period of training, he was sent to the Western Front on 17 October 1917, to join his regiment.
In the final three months of 1917, the regiment (part of the 177th Brigade of the 59th (2nd North Midland) Division) were engaged in fighting around Cambrai, suffering heavy casualties with over 500 men killed. As a result, the regiment was re-organised in January 1918, losing one battalion, with Sydney being assigned to the new 4th Battalion.
In March, the 4th Battalion were in action at St Quentin and Bapaume with further heavy losses. On 1 April, the remnants of the division moved by train to the Poperinge area in Flanders. New drafts of men arrived and on 5 April the division took over the front line at Passchendaele, without having had time to assimilate or train the new men.
Detail :
On 13 April, the 177th Brigade were moved to defend the line west of Neuve Eglise (Nieuwkerke) at a position known as Crucifix Corner.
The history of The Lincolnshire Regiment describes the action on 15 April:
At 12 noon, the bombardment began, Crucifix Corner receiving marked attention. At 2:45 pm, a local attack developed against the latter place, the enemy obtaining a footing in the battalion’s line. But he was driven out by the counter-attack platoon of the left company. Again and again he attacked and twice reached the high ground in the neighbourhood of Crucifix Corner, but on each occasion was driven off with severe losses. His barrage was then shortened to the position, but his attempts were still frustrated in the most gallant manner.
A heavy frontal attack against the whole line then developed. On the right, rifle and Lewis gun fire forced him back. On the left, however, troops of the 4th Lincolnshire had been forced to retire and at last the enemy broke through and captured the crest of Crucifix Hill from the eastern side. He was now able to dominate the whole of the 4th Battalion with machine-gun fire, and the Lincolnshire were forced to retire.
The action then developed into a series of stands and retirements, in which hand-to–hand fighting was of frequent occurrence. Eventually a line was dug north of the railway in the rear of Hill 75, where at about 7:30 pm orders were received to retire to Locre, which was reached at about 2:30 am on the 16th.
The history reports that two officers were killed on 15 April, with eight (including Lieutenant Sydney Slidel) wounded and one missing. 12 other ranks were confirmed killed with 120 wounded and 170 missing.
The wounded were taken to a Casualty Clearing Station near Poperinge, to the west of Ypres where Sydney died of his wounds on 20 April. He was buried at Haringhe (Bandaghem) Military Cemetery. His grave bears the inscription: “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God”. (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1)
The three casualty stations at Poperinge were popularly known by the troops as “Bandaghem, Dozinghem and Mendinghem”.
On 20 April, a telegram from the War Office was delivered to Sydney’s widow Phillis at the School House in Warbleton, simply stating: “2nd Lieutenant R.S. Slidel Lincolnshire Regt att. 4th Battalion wounded April fifteenth.” The following day, she received another which brought the news she must have been dreading: “Deeply regret Lieut R S Slidel Lincolnshire Regt died of wounds April twenty. Army Council expresses sympathy.”
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | St. George's No. 1958 E.C. | Unknown |
| Joined : | Anderida No. 2434 E.C. | Sussex |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
13th January 1909 | 10th February 1909 | 10th March 1909 |
Initiated into St. George's Lodge at Portsea and joined Anderida Lodge, Eastbourne shortly after on 15th December 1909.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley