SIDAWAY, George

George Sidaway lived at 30 High Street, Cradley, He enlisted in the Worcesters early in 1914 and was sent to the 3rd Battalion in the British Expeditionary Force at Aldershot. They crossed to France on the 12th August and fought in the crucial battles on the Marne and Aisne which prevented German victory. In the Spring of 1915 the Worcesters were stationed at the end of the Messines Ridge at Spanbroek Mill. They provided the diversionary attack for the main British March attack at Neuve Chapelle and then moved to Ypres where an attack on the German line was planned. The attempt to gain the Bellewaerde ridge on the 16th June against strong German defences was an expensive failure. Lance Corporal George Sidaway died of wounds suffered when a shell exploded in a communications trench. He was 19 years of age and is buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (I E 82). His name originally appeared on the Menin Gate Memorial. He is also commemorated on the Cradley and Halesowen Memorials.