Pte 35808 Sydney Winterbottom

• Age: 27
• From: Daisy Nook, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Wednesday 18th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Sydney Winterbottom was born in 1889 in Daisy Nook, Lancashire, the son of Samuel Winterbottom and his wife Mary (nee Higgin). His parents married in 1884 at All Saints Church, Newton Heath. 

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 70 Ashton Road, Woodhouse, Ashton Under Lyne. His father, Samuel, is aged 53, born in Daisy Nook, Lancashire in 1858 and is a general labourer, his mother, Mary, is aged 46, born 1865 in Manchester. At the time of the 1911 Census they had been married for 26 years. They have ten children including one stepson.  Those listed in the household are; Florence aged 24, born 1887 and occupation Cotton Cop Reeler, Fred aged 23, born 1888 and Sydney aged 21, born 1890 are both Cotton Piecers. Lewis aged 20, born 1891 is a Dryer at a Bleach works, Stanley aged 18, born 1893 is a Bleachers Croft Boy, Harry aged 17, born 1894 is an Apprentice at an Iron Foundry, Alice aged 11, born 1900 is at school, all were born in Daisy Nook. Walter aged 9, born 1902, and Annie aged 7, born 1904 were born in Woodhouse. They also have a stepson Ernest Higgin aged 29, born 1882 and his occupation is a Labourer in an Iron foundry and was born in Manchester.

Sydney married Sarah Emma Rowbottom in 1916 in Oldham. It is highly unlikely that Sydney saw his daughter, Charlotte, who was born on 06th October 1916.

He was serving in the 18th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 35808 when he was killed in action on the 18th October 1916 aged 27 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

18^th Bn Diary

18^th October 1916

Attacked German trenches commencing 3.40 am. Relieved by 19^th Manchester Regt. Took up position in support Bn trenches W. of Goose Alley.

Graham Maddocks in his book Liverpool Pals gives an overview of the events of the day:

“At 3.40 am the whistles blew, and the Battalion left its assembly trenches, in three waves, approximately fifty yards apart, and began to cross No Man’s Land. Almost immediately, the German Barrage fell on the first wave and halted its advance, so that the second wave soon caught up with it. This was not a great problem at first, and the two combined waves were able to advance together for about 300 yards, whereupon they encountered the German Grid Trench system. On the right of the advance, it was found that the wire was largely intact, apart from a few gaps, and the Germans bombed and machine gunned these gaps, which prevented any further progress. Elsewhere along the trench, however, the wire was cut and there did not seem to be any serious opposition. Nevertheless, the men hesitated to jump down into the German trenches, and instead, began to filter back across to the safety of their own lines.

By this time the third wave had caught up, as had a fourth wave, which had been detailed to mop up any opposition once the trenches had fallen, and all four waves became intermingled which added to the confusion. No less than three attempts were made to try to get the men to go forward again, but each attempt became markedly less successful than its predecessor, and eventually the attack came to a standstill. Although the British assembly trenches had received the attention of the German guns, the attackers in No Mans Land had not come under any great intensity of fire up until this point.

However, once it became obvious to the Germans that the attack was disorganised and faltering, they began to fire into the massed men from the flanks. It was probably this that finally settled the issue and convinced the Pals that they could no longer gain the enemy trenches, and all four waves, now merged into one, began to retreat to their own lines. The whole attack had been an abysmal failure, and no ground had been gained at all”.               

Sydney was initially reported as Missing.

His body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France. 

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. 

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

We currently have no further information on Sydney Winterbottom, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.