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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Cpl. Ernest Francis Sykes
British Army 6th Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment
Ernest Sykes was my great uncle, he was called up he was in a reserved occupation at the Daimler Works, Coventry. He had training with 3rd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment based at the Isle of Sheppey. He was posted to the front in September 1916, spent a few days at L infantry Base Depot on the French coast before being posted and joining the 6th Northamptonshires on 23rd of September 1918. He fought at Bois Mormal Forest, he was seriously injured on 4th November, shot in chest & below knee amputation and was repatriated to Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport and discharged from the army in 1920.
Pte. Henry Sykes
British Army 2nd Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
(d.18th Feb 1915)
Pte. Joseph Sykes
British Army 1st Btn. Cheshire Regiment
from:Heyrod, Lancashire
(d.8th Oct 1917)
Pte. L. Sykes
British Army 10th Btn. Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment
from:Castlegate, Huddersfield.
(d.7th Jun 1917)
Lt-Col. Samuel Stanley Sykes MC.
British Army 1/8th Leeds Rifles Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment
from:Leeds, West Yorkshire
Extract from the book, 'Leeds in the Great War (1914-1918)': "The battalion were now commanded by Lieut.-Colonel S. S. Sykes, and suffered a period of difficult outpost warfare on the ridges near Passchendaele amidst great discomfort due to weather, the state of ground, and the activities on both sides. Christmas was spent in the front line, and shortly afterwards Lieut.-Colonel Sykes went home sick, and Major Longbottom, D.S.O., assumed command, the battalion going out to rest at Staple."
Samuel Stanley Sykes, known as Stan served with the 1/8th Battalion, Leeds Rifles, based at Carlton Barracks, Leeds. They were deployed to France in October 1915.
Lt. Hugh Randall Syme GC GM.
Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve HMS Vernon
from:Australia
Melbourne-born Hugh Syme had a lifelong involvement in the newspaper industry. He was awarded the George Cross and the George Medal and Bar for his brave work in dealing with enemy mines. Returning to Victoria, he set up a mine disposal section before leaving the navy to return to business in 1944.
Lt Syme was based at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, from 1940 to 1942. He rapidly developed a reputation for bravery, especially in delousing the unfamiliar German magnetic mines. He was later awarded the Bar to the George Medal (1942) and the George Cross (1943) for a string of successful mine recoveries. In January 1943 he returned to Australia and was appointed as the Commanding Officer of a bomb disposal section at HMAS Cerberus. He left the Navy in 1944, returning to the family business of running The Age newspaper in Melbourne.
Pte. John "Jock" Syme
British Army 2nd Btn., No. 2 Coy. Cameron Highlanders
from:Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
(d.24th April 1915)
John Syme grew up in a rural area of Midlothian, Scotland, son of a grieve who worked on the farms near Dalkeith and Penicuik. Jock's mother died when he was young. He followed his father into agricultural work then joined the Cameron Highlanders, 2nd Battalion. He served in Puna, India, sending insistent requests to his family for regular supplies of "baccy and bisquits".
When the Great War broke out, the Battalion were sent to Ypres, where Jock fought in the battle of Hill 60 in April 1915. He was killed there on 23rd or 24th April 1915 and is buried nearby at the Larch Wood (Railway Cutting) Cemetery, Ypres. Jock was survived by his father, stepmother, sister and half-siblings, who were by then working on the Binns Estate, West Lothian, Scotland and living at Merrilees Cottage, near Linlithgow.
Pte. Robert Syme MM.
British Army 1/7th Btn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
from:28 Watson Crescent, Edinburgh
(d.25th July 1918)
2nd Lt. George William Symes MC.
British Army 69th Company Machine Gun Corps
from:Bridport, Dorset
George Symes was awarded the Military Cross and later the bar. Citation details: "69th Machine Gun Company - 2nd Lieut. George William Symes. During the attack on Le Sars on 7th of October 1916 this officer advanced along a communication trench and single-handed captured 20(twenty) Germans. After taking off the equipment of the prisoners he sent them back to our lines, while himself remaining alone to guard the trench. This officer also handled the guns with marked ability and has frequently made bold and valuable reconnaissances. Throughout the operation at Le Sars this officer has done work which only his great powers of physical endurance could have sustained. His coolness, judgement and courage have been of the utmost value to the Brigade." Lt Colonel, A A & 0 M G 23rd Division 69th Company, Machine Gun Corps.
"2nd Lieut. (temp. Lieut) George William Symes, M.C. Has carried out his duties with unfailing courage, ability and cheerfulness since February 1916, showing great gallantry at all the actions in which the Brigade had taken part. Throughout one battle he commanded his section with conspicuous ability. Meeting suddenly a hostile party when alone with his servant, he went straight at them, killing two with his revolver, and wounding and scattering the remainder who were afterwards captured. He again commanded his section with conspicuous success and gallantry in a subsequent Battle. Awarded the Bar to Military Cross, January 1918." March 1918, Brigadier General, Commanding 69th Infantry Brigade.
Gnr. John Frederick Symes DCM.
British Army Royal Field Artillery
from:17, Ancill Street, Fulham
John Frederick Symes was my Great Grandfather he was a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery he served in India, Mesopotamia and the Western Front,where he took part in the battles of Arras, Loos, Neuve Chapelle and Ypres. He later went with the Army of Occupation to Germany. He was demobbed in 1919.
John served with honours in WW1. In March 1918 he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in the Field by his Major for Conspicuous Gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy attack. The award was reported in the London Gazette issue No. 30879 page 97 published on 3rd September 1918. He helped in repelling the enemy by rifle fire and then assisted in dismantling a gun whilst under fire. His Officer Commanding having been shot in both legs was carried by John although surrounded by the enemy, under cover of the mist to the safety of the R.A.M.C.
John returned to England where the effects of the war took its toll and he went A.W.O.L. and was arrested by the Military Police, however his Commanding officer intervened and no action was taken against him, he then returned to action as the hero he was. Sadly I have been unable to trace his Army records.
Pte. Alexander Symington
British Army 10th Btn. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
from:Bellshill, Scotland
(d.18th October 1916)
Cpl. Frederick Charles Symonds
British Army 8th Btn. Lincolnshire Regiment
from:Cambridge
(d.8th Oct 1918)
Frederick Symonds served with the 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment during WW1 and was killed in action on the 8th October 1918, aged 23. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial in France, son of Sam Thomas Symonds and Kezia Symonds, of 5, Pretoria Cottages, Ditton Walk, Cambridge.
Pte. Cecil Henry Symons
British Army 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment
from:Bradford, West Yorkshire
(d.3rd Oct 1917)
Cecil Symons was born in Bradford on 2nd August 1894, the second child of Henry Octavius Paul Symons (known as Harry) and Eliza Cooke. Cecil's grandfather was a civil engineer who constructed railways all over England, including the Settle-Carlisle line. He settled his family in Bradford during the 1870s. Harry had been born in Hampshire. He started work as a clerk, as did two of his brothers, and he rose to become cashier to a wool-combing company. In 1890 he married Eliza, the daughter of a Bradford tailor. They had five children, four of whom survived infancy. Cecil showed promise from an early age and he went to Bradford Grammar School shortly after his eighth birthday in 1902. He would be a pupil there for seven years, leaving shortly before he was fifteen. Throughout his school years, he did well at French and also Maths, History, Geography and in his final year, Physics. From school, he went like his father to work in the wool trade as a clerk with wool merchants Messrs. Francis Willey and Co. in central Bradford.
When the war began Cecil was twenty and a single man living with his parents, near Toller Lane. He did not volunteer during the first year of hostilities but when the government moved towards conscription in November 1915 Cecil attested his willingness to serve when called upon. Although the place of his attestation was Bradford, he was assigned to the 2/5th Battalion, East Kent Regiment. He was duly mobilized in April 1916 and travelled to Tonbridge in Kent. His medical inspection reveals that he was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed a little over nine stones and his chest measured 36 inches. He received eight months training before he was sent to 38th Infantry Base Depot in France at the end of December, where he was posted to D Company, 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment (6th Buffs).
In 1917 Symons survived going over the top twice during the British Spring Offensive around Arras. On 9th April 6/Buffs successfully took their objectives for relatively light losses. On the disastrous 3rd May, the battalion lost 360 men for no gain at Monchy-le-Preux. The 6th Buffs were then withdrawn to refit and train in the new attack methods the B.E.F. was adopting. At the end of June Symons went down with trench fever, caused by infected lice bites, and was eventually taken to a hospital at Boulogne. He was not discharged until 4th September, and he was then at 38th Infantry Base Depot before returning to his unit on 24th September. A few days later on 3rd October, the 6th Buffs were in the front line at Monchy when a neighbouring battalion launched a raid on the German trenches. In retaliation the Germans heavily shelled The Buffs trenches, causing 33 casualties. Cecil Symons was one of six dead who were buried in the same row at Monchy British Cemetery.
Cecil's sibling Horace had volunteered before his elder brother, in January 1915. He served with the Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Engineers and survived the war. Their parents dedicated a window in St. Chad's, their parish church just off Toller Lane, to Cecil's memory.
Pte. Michael Synnott
British Army 2/4th Btn. East Yorkshire Regiment
from:Dublin
(d.12th October 1918)
Private Synnott was the son of Michael and Mary Synnott; husband of Mary Ann Synnott, of 1, Lower Sandwill St., Great Brunswick St., Dublin. He was born at Arklow, Co. Wicklow.
Michael was 38 when he died and is buried in the St. George's Military Cemetery in Bermuda, Grave 20.
Pte. Pierce Joseph Synnott
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
served with 18th & 13th & 22nd DLI
Rfm. Robert Charles Syrett
British Army 3rd Btn. The Rifle Brigade
from:18, St. James's Rd., Bermondsey, London.
(d.7th Jun 1917)
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