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“If you think, have a kindly thought, If you speak, speak generously, Of those who as heroes fought And died to keep you free”
Set up by the Black Country Society. Our aim is to highlight local men who died in the Great War and how they have been commemorated on war memorials. Its scope covers the whole of the present Dudley Municipal Borough and therefore includes the places which have come within its bounds since 1914.
There are over fifty memorials and the number of names exceeds three thousand. Research on the names has been extensive but inevitably errors and omissions occur. We would like to hear about them concentrated on life and work before 1914, involvement in military campaigns and where each man is buried or commemorated.
James Sidaway attended Hallesoen C of E school and lived with his wife, Elizabeth, at 358 Lower Hasbury. He was probably recalled in August 1914 from the Reserve to join the 3rd Battalion of the Worcesters. This battalion fought at Mons and on the Aisne in 1914 and in the Ploegsteert sector in 1915. In March 1916 they moved to Vimy ridge and then began a contest among the craters and pits of this much tunnelled area. A German attack on the 21st May won some British trenches. In retaliation the Worcesters attacked on the 23rd and regained the position. Such actions could be costly and Private James Sidaway was among those killed in action. He was 33 years of age and is buried in Ecoivres Military Cemetery at Mont St. Eloi (II B 1). He is commemorated on the Halesowen and Halesowen C of E school Memorials.
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ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH, High St, Halesowen, Dudley, West Midlands, England, B63 3BB
