SIDLEY BLOG No 4

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An unlikely hero...interrupted


My great grandfather George Thomas Sidley was a soldier in the Boer War. Soldier number 34309, Unit 53 Company (East Kent) 11th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry.

Today 31 May is the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging which marked the end of the Second South African War or Boer War. It was signed in Pretoria on this day in 1902. See more at www.angloboerwar.com

For many years there has been a tradition for a memorial service to be held, about this time, at the South Australian Boer War memorial in Adelaide, South Australia. This memorial was one of the first to be erected to honour Australians who died in the war and was unveiled on 6th June 1904 by Sir George Le Hunte, Governor of South Australia.

6th June was the anniversary of the battle of Graspan in  1901 and this skirmish in the former Orange Free State was the worst day South Australia was to experience in the war with the death of eight soldiers.
The unveiling June 1904. Photograph B62686 State Library S.A.

The memorial was funded by subscriptions and donations from the public and cost £2500.00. It was originally known as the National Boer War Memorial.

The sculptor was Captain Adrian Jones MVO, known for his ability to capture horses in movement and he was prepared to undertake the work for £1600.00. The soldier was modelled on Quartermaster Sergeant George Goodall, whose descendants are members today of the South Australian Boer War Association (SABWA). Jones also created the sculpture Peace on top of the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner in London.

Made of bronze and 11 feet 6 inches high, the statue was massive in its own right but was even more imposing when placed on a pedestal of Murray Bridge granite 11 feet 11 inches high. Four plaques on the sides of the pedestal list 60 men who had fallen mark the role of the public in funding the memorial.

Memorial Day 1922. Photo courtesy State Library of South Australia.

The stories of these 60 men and others are being commemorated with a book “Citizen Soldiers” currently being prepared for publication by SABWA and The Wakefield Press, and due for release later this year. See http://southaustralianboerwarassociationinc.wordpress.com

There is now a magnificent Boer War Memorial at the National War Memorial in Canberra which was officially opened on 31 May 2017. See www.bwm.org.au

This picture is of the memorial event in 2016 with volunteers wearing replicas of the uniforms of a soldier and a nurse.
Photo by Jan Sim 2016

Photo:  Kaye Goodall 2020
 This latest photo taken today is evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions - an almost deserted Adelaide.
                                                                 Lest we forget.

George’s story continues in SIDLEY BLOG No 5






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SIDLEY BLOG No 5

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An unlikely hero   continued I was sent the following maps from Anthony Stimson, Chairman of the South Australian Boer War Association, after he read Sidley Blog No 3. His great, great uncle Edward Marston published these maps of  Groenkop in the early 1900s in The Times history of the war in South Africa, 1899-1902 . Tweefontein and Groenkop courtesy Anthony Stimson The map shows the tents for the 53rd Company. These were sited opposite the side of the kopje where De Wet’s men surprised the camp on the night of 24/25th December 1901. This could explain why George Sidley survived the raid. There is now a memorial on the top of the hill.   These photos taken by Anthony Stimson in 2013 show the site where the Boers attacked from the right. I believe that the 11th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry returned to Britain on the Troopship Cunard S.S. Aurania after cessation of military actions. The Aurania was allocated the number 20 as one of the ships used for tr
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SIDLEY BLOG No 7

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Family weddings The wedding of Pamela Joyce Buchanan, second daughter of Ada Annie Maud and William John Buchanan to Edward Michael Williams, only son of Ellen and William Evan Robert Williams, took place at St Mary’s Church, South Ealing, W5 on 14 January 1940. Notice the traditional guard of honour from the Middlesex Regiment. Edward Williams was a Corporal in 2/8th Middlesex Regiment, the “Die Hards”. Pamela Joyce Buchanan with her uncle George Thomas Edward Sidley at the front of 27 South Ealing Road, South Ealing 14 January 1940. I believe George gave her away at the ceremony instead of her father William John Buchanan. She was the eldest granddaughter of Louisa and George Thomas Sidley of Bognor Regis. The wedding is of Priscilla Bettina Betty Buchanan third daughter of Ada Annie Maud and William John Buchanan to Walter Eugene (Gene) Rosendahl of the United States of America, was solemnised in December 1944 at St Mary’s Church, South E
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SIDLEY BLOG No 6

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After the war…back in England On his return home, George Thomas SIDLEY’s wife Louisa quickly became pregnant with another daughter Jessie May who was born on 15 May 1903. She was followed by Walter Stanley born December 1904, and twins Dorothy Louisa and Ethel Georgina who were born in December 1905. The twins died in 1906 before their first birthday and unfortunately Walter died aged two in 1907. In the 1911 census Louisa is recorded having 8 children with 4 deceased and 4 living. Valerie Davidson STRUB, her granddaughter, thought she had 9 children but I cannot find any record of another. Louisa May Chapman Sidley about 1939 George appears in the London, England Electoral Register for 1905 living at 36 Coningsby Road and in 1911 to 1913 living at 12 Coningsby Road. One of the questions I asked in an earlier blog was ‘what prompted George to join the army” and subsequently fight in the Boer War? I may have found the answer….. When George completed his a
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