Sydney Victor Grey

Born: 21 January 1887

Died: 16 December 1917

Rank and Regiment: Private M2/048376 587th Mechanical Transport Company Army Service Corps.

Resting Place: Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, France - Grave III. C. 18

Memorial: St. Peter’s, Reymerston, United Kingdom

Sidney Grey was born on 21 January 1887 in Walthamstow, London.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1903 but only appears to have spent a few years in the Navy, his service coming to an end in August 1906.

He married Ellen Newell in 1914 and their son Victor was born on 3 September 1915.

He enlisted in the Army at Norwich on 6 February 1915. He is recorded as standing 5 ft 8¼ in tall and weighing 143 lb (10 st 3 lb). He was posted to France on 22 May 1915.

For some time, his army career appears to have been successful; he was promoted first to Lance-Corporal and then to Sergeant. However, he was then court-martialled twice for drunkenness. The first court-martial, in June 1916, resulted in him being reduced to the ranks; the second, in December 1916, led to him receiving 28 days’ “Field Punishment No 1”, an unpleasant ritual introduced in 1881 following the abolition of flogging. It consisted of the convicted man being placed in fetters and handcuffs or similar restraints and attached to a fixed object, such as a gun wheel or a fence post, for up to two hours per day. During the early part of World War I, the punishment was often applied with the arms stretched out and the legs tied together, giving rise to the nickname “crucifixion”.

While all this was going on, Ellen, by then living in Mile Road, Reymerston, was expecting a second child; but little Sidney was born prematurely on 26 July 1917 and survived for only ten hours.

Sidney Victor Grey (or Gray, as he is recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) died on 16 December 1917. He was found dead in the cab of his truck early in the morning; a post-mortem recorded the cause of death as nephritis and chronic bronchitis “accelerated by exposure”. He is buried at Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, about 35 miles south-east of Calais (Grave III. C. 18). 

His widow Ellen died in 1931.

Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, France