MORE information has been revealed about an agricultural worker from Weymouth who died aged 21 during the First World War.

Sidney John Styles, a gunner in C Battery, 60th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was born into a large working class family at Franchise Court in Weymouth on January 24 1894.

He is one of 11 names listed on the war memorial in the village of Powerstock, near Bridport.

Adrian Semmence, of Powerstock, has been involved in a project as part of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War to research information on the 11 names on the war memorial in St Mary’s Church in Powerstock.

He and his daughter Jenny elected to find out more about Sidney Styles and Adrian recently visited Sidney]s grave while on a business trip.

Adrian said: “We did the research as part of an interesting village project and we feel we have started to know Sidney but there are large gaps in his story.”

He has shared what he has found out with the Looking Back pages. Sidney’s mother was Emily Fanny Styles and her husband George Stickland Styles was a jobbing labourer. Sidney was their sixth child and his mother would go on to have another two children.

The family home was at 12 Rose Terrace, Westham, in Weymouth and the house still stands today, close to the Holy Trinity church where Sidney was baptised and where many of the family events took place.

Rose Terrace was renamed just before the 1911 census as Granville Road.

In the 1911 census, Sidney was still at home and working as a fishmonger’s errand boy, but some time after this date, he moved to the village of Nettlecombe, near Bridport.

He was working at the Mappercombe Estate at the time of his enlistment– the Powerstock Parish Magazine of September 1915 announced the death of Sidney Styles ‘of Mappercombe’, which is the large estate in the village.

Sidney was called up to serve in the 60th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, formed in August 1914 as part of Kitchener’s First New Army, K1.

The brigade sailed from Liverpool for operations in the Mediterranean on June 30 1915, but when the rest of the Division moved to Gallipoli in August 1915, this brigade remained in Egypt.

Sidney is recorded as having died in Cairo on August 12 1915.

However, he is not buried in the large Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in Heliopolis, but in the Port Said War Memorial Cemetery on the Mediterranean coast and at the mouth of the Suez Canal.

In September 16 1915 the Bridport News added another piece to the jigsaw, reporting that he had died of ‘an appendicitis’.

Sidney had an older brother William, who served in France in the 16th Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery.

He and his wife Sarah named their fourth child Sidney Verdun Styles after Sidney John Styles.

Sidney Verdun Styles joined the Royal Marines and died on D-Day, June 6 1944, manning one of the 12 landing craft in the 557 Landing Craft Flotilla taking troops from the Canadian Regiment-de-la-Claudiers to Juno beach.

Sidney John and his nephew Sidney Verdun are commemorated together on the Weymouth War Memorial.

Adrian said: “Many of the others buried in Port Said are listed as having died of dysentery and there is chance that his early symptoms were misinterpreted.

“Family members descended from at least two of his siblings still live in Weymouth, but it seems that no photographs or any other information about him have survived or stories been passed on through the generations.

“It seems that his name on the Weymouth War memorial and the plate in Powerstock church, along with 10 of his contemporaries, are the only acknowledgement of his life.”

Adrian and Jenny would love to hear from anyone who has any information about Sidney John Styles and Sidney Verdun Styles.

Adrian said: “We feel we have started to know Sidney but there are large gaps in his story.

“Although the village project is completed, we are carrying on and my visit to his grave was an opportune moment on a recent business trip.

“We have traced his family tree to the current generation, with a number still living in Weymouth, but no-one we contacted even knew about him “We would love to hear from anyone with further information.”

 

Anyone who has information about Sidney and/or his nephew should get in touch with Looking Back on 01305 830973 or email joanna.davis@dorsetecho.co.uk