Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

At the outbreak of war the British, together with Indian troops, resolved to protect oil supply in the region by occupying the area around Basra at Abadan. This evolved into a series of campaigns towards Baghdad against the Turkish forces as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) was part of the Ottoman Empire. Meetings in late 1914 and into 1915 led the Viceroy and Indian government at Simla to reconsider the limited involvement of troops and they decided to order further advances with a view to securing the Shatt-al-Hai, a canal connecting the Tigris and Euphrates river and potentially capturing Baghdad. The British government disagreed and wished to conserve forces for the Western front. The Viceroy was given permission to act as it wished, but told in no uncertain terms that no reinforcements should be expected.

The initial success experienced by the British and Indian forces quickly disintegrated in the face of Ottoman opposition. The Siege of Kut-Al-Amara began on 7th December with the besieging of an 8,000 strong British-Indian garrison in the town of Kut, 100 miles south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. These campaigns produced few tactical benefits, indeed the catastrophic defeat at Kut in 1916 was a major setback. Badhdad was eventually taken in March 1917.

The conditions in Mesopotamia were dreadful. The climate, sickness and disease produced large losses in addition to battle casualties. About as many men died of disease as were killed in action. The Mesopotamia front was part of a strategy hoping for success at lower cost than the Western Front but no decisive victory was achieved.

Detail :

Formerly 7, Colour Sergeant of the Rifle Brigade
26932 Company Quarter Master Sergeant? 2nd(Garrison) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers.

Great War Forum "Men of the 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers served in Mesopotamia from March 1917 until 1919. Whether this was the whole battalion, or elements of it, is not clear but the Battalion lost 179 men during the First World War and the majority died from sickness in Mesopotamia. The earliest death in Mesopotamia was on March 4th 1917 and the latest March 21st 1919….However, "Soldiers Died in the Great War" (HMSO, 1921) lists their first death in Mesopotamia on March 4th 1917 at Basra. It seems certain that all or part of the 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers arrived in Basra in late February or early March 1917. The deaths in Mesopotamia appeared to be from sickness including one from smallpox… The Garrison Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers appears to have remained in Mesopotamia until the winter of 1918/1919 as the last recorded death there was on January 4th 1919 at Amara. Amara was further North than Basra and was the headquarters from where the 13th Division started demobilisation in February 1919. The final death in the 2nd Garrison Battalion was recorded in India on March 21 1919. The 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers returned to England and was disbanded on January 8th 1920"

Masonic :

Sydney was resident or stationed at Agra at the time of his initiation in 1916. No year of birth is shown, but he is listed as C.Q.M.S., (Company Quarter Master Sergeant). He was initiated on the same day as a 51 year old Conductor and almost all those who became members were associated with the services. The contribution record shows us that he "Died Jan 1918," acknowledged to be later than official records.

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