{"id":439,"date":"2014-11-05T13:32:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T13:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plattwarmemorial.org\/?page_id=439"},"modified":"2024-05-27T14:10:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T14:10:01","slug":"sydney-bridgland-1893-1918","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/world-war-one\/sydney-bridgland-1893-1918\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Bridgland (1893 &#8211; 1918)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-three\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:31px;margin-left:0px;\"><h3 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.5;\">Pte Sydney Bridgland (1893 &#8211; 1918)<\/h3><\/div><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-dropshadow imageframe-1 hover-type-zoomin\" style=\"-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sydney_bridgland.jpg\" class=\"fusion-lightbox\" data-rel=\"iLightbox[215b08bc752d8532ce5]\" data-title=\"Sydney Bridgland (1893 &#8211; 1918)\" title=\"Sydney Bridgland (1893 &#8211; 1918)\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"219\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sydney_bridgland-219x300.jpg\" alt class=\"img-responsive wp-image-443\" srcset=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sydney_bridgland-219x300.jpg 219w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sydney_bridgland-640x873.jpg 640w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sydney_bridgland.jpg 733w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px\" \/><\/a><\/span><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sydney was born on 1 March 1893 at 143 Blythe Road in Fulham, the eldest of four children of Edward Charles and Charlotte Bridgland (n\u00e9e Ingram.) His father (who died in 1900) was born in West Malling, while his mother was from Platt. Following Edward\u2019s death, Sydney and his three younger siblings lived with Ellen Ingram, their maternal grandmother, in Claygate Cross near Crouch. Sydney\u2019s mother decided to stay in London and worked as the housekeeper for her late husband\u2019s brother, a widowed civil engineer who kept a house in Lambeth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The registers for Platt School survive from 1900 onwards; however, as the two youngest Bridgland children received an education there, likely, the two oldest (including Sydney) were also former pupils. Like many lads from the area, Sydney worked on a farm after leaving school, although perhaps feeling that his future lay beyond the fields of Kent, he enlisted in the Army at Chatham on 27 April 1911 and joined The Buffs (East Kent Regiment.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In his medical, Sydney, then aged 18, was described as 5\u2032 7\u2033 in height, weighing 128 lbs, and having a fresh complexion, brown eyes, and hair. He signed up for seven years with the Colours and five in the Reserve and was sent to the regimental depot in Canterbury, where he underwent basic training.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Several months later, Sydney joined the 1st Battalion in Dublin and remained with them until 12 November 1913, when he was posted to India to join the 2nd <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. During his time overseas, he was awarded his 3rd Class Army Education Certificate and qualified for regimental transport duties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was based<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in Wellington, which is in the current Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Orders arrived in November 1914 for the Buffs to proceed to the Western Front. After being relieved by a Territorial unit, they departed from Bombay on the 16th on board the Cunard ship <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ultonia<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. The vessel was old, slow, dirty and overcrowded due to the additional presence of a battalion of East Yorkshires, who were also on their way to the war.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After making a circuitous detour around the South Atlantic to avoid enemy submarines,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">a convoy of<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a034 ships arrived in Plymouth on 23 December. Sydney spent a wet, miserable Christmas encamped on downs near Winchester, where the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0became part of the 85th Brigade in the 28th Division. While at camp, he probably took a few day\u2019s leave to return home before proceeding overseas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On 16 January 1915, the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0marched to Southampton and embarked for Le Havre, where they entrained for Hazebrouck upon arrival. The Buffs first went into the trenches near Ypres on 6 February. They discovered that they were in a \u2018<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">very bad<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0condition\u2019, with the men having to stand \u2018knee-deep in water\u2019 and forced to keep their heads down due to the parapet offering little in the way of protection. Additionally, they had been dug in a straight line without any traverse and were therefore susceptible to enfilade fire in several key places. Despite being at the front for only a few days, many men returned with swollen feet and frostbite from their first time in the line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The following week, 250 Buffs attacked an objective on the south side of a canal bank. After an unsuccessful first attempt, the advance resumed the next\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">day,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0with slightly more success. However,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">only half the line was secured<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0held what gains they had made until a replacement force from the Suffolk Regiment could secure the entire stretch. Due to the mud,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">it was noted<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0that most of The Buff\u2019s rifles were out of action, and had the Germans counter-attacked, they would have been in considerable trouble. It is unknown whether Sydney participated in the attack; however, he would have almost certainly been in the support had he not been one of the 250.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Following the assault, the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0went into billets at Locre before marching to Westoutre for baths and fresh clothing. A History of The Buffs in the Great War, written by Colonel S. H. Moody, noted:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Men cast off their filthy underclothing, which\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was taken<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0from them, and after a bath, clean underclothes, which had once belonged to other people, were provided\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0the old ones were never seen again by the original owners. At\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">first<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0this caused a certain amount of grumbling amongst careful men, who were liable to become possessed of somewhat more ragged articles than they handed i<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">n\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On 22 April, the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was involved<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in the Second Battle of Ypres. The Buffs had recently arrived in St Jean (about one mile east of the city) from\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Zonnebeke,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and bivouacked in nearby fields about four miles back from the front lines. On the first day of the attack, Sydney\u2019s unit would have been able to see a greenish vapour (which was poison gas) creeping over the Allied positions while stray bullets pinged around their heads. The\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0went into action on the second day and\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was ordered<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to assist a Canadian Division at Wieltje, which had suffered heavily on its left flank. The trenches\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were screened<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by a hedge\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">which<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0allowed The Buffs to approach undetected; however, beyond this was open country, and once deployed, the Buffs came under considerable enemy machine-gun and rifle fire. During their advance, men fell in their dozens, with only two companies of Buffs able to reach the relative safety of an old farm about 400 yards across the battlefield. They took further casualties when men\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">made a dash<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0across fields on their right to help secure three lines of trenches\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">being lightly protected<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by a French unit and in danger of being breached. They made it, and the remnants of the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0held the position for several days and were eventually relieved by the 4th Rifle Brigade four days later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After a brief period away from the action, The Buffs faced the full force of the German artillery again at the start of May with an abnormally ferocious barrage beginning at dawn on the 3rd. During the day, Sydney received a shrapnel wound in the back of his hand and\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was sent<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to Boulogne for treatment at No. 13 General Hospital. Battalion casualties in the thirteen days commencing 22 April were estimated to have numbered almost 700 men. Sydney\u2019s time with the 2nd Buffs had ended, and he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">found himself<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0repatriated back to England to recover from his wounds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In late June, Sydney was temporarily transferred to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, The Buffs, and spent two weeks at camp in Dover awaiting his next posting. On 6 July, two months after returning to England, Private Bridglandsailed for France a second time and was re-assigned to the 1st Buffs, which formed part of the 6th Division. However, on 24 August, following a spell at an Infantry Base Depot, Sydney was attached to the 38th Trench Mortar Battery and sent to join his new unit along the canal near Ypres. At this stage of the war, trench mortars were still a relatively new thing, and batteries\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were often made up<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0of men from the Infantry who\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">manned<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0light mortar units and gunners from the Artillery Corps who took charge of medium\/heavy units. The Long, Long Trail website writes:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trench mortars were used in a variety of defensive and offensive roles, from\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the suppression of an enemy machine-gun<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, sniper post or other local feature<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, to the coordinated<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0firing of barrages.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On 25 September, Sydney\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was based<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0on the salient at the unattractively named\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Stink Houses<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, from where the battery took part in a general bombardment of the German lines, and towards the end of October, they were forced to evacuate their trenches due to deteriorating conditions. The Battery War Diary records that:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Heavy<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0rain for three days\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">almost incessant<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Trenches have become impassable<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">; all movement<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0restricted to the open at night. Even the parapet has fallen in<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">in several places. All dug-outs\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">fell in, entire time<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0taken up with making dug-outs, digging out banks and stores\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">making new bank store<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> etc.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On 29 October, Sydney took a two-week transfer to the 26th Trench Mortar Battery before returning to the 38th on 12 November. On 19 December, he survived an enemy gas attack while in trenches near Railway Wood and remained in the Ypres area until mid-March, when the battery moved to Zegerscappel in northern France. On arrival, he received training in using a new weapon known as the Stokes Trench Mortar. This light mortar became highly useful for its portability and could fire a high-explosive shell weighing about 11 pounds at a maximum range of about 800 yards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Men of the re-designated 26th Battery, including Sydney, were assigned to X\/6 Trench Mortar Battery on 1 April\u00a01916 and sent to Bertrancourt on the Somme in early August. At the start of September, Sydney\u2019s unit was based south of Albert near M\u00e9aulte and working on forward gun positions for the Royal Field Artillery. During the month, the 6th Division\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">took part<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in two general attacks on the Somme (Flers-Courcelette &amp; Morval) and one in October (Le Transloy), with Sydney probably involved with some or all of these battles. By the end of November, the division took over the La Bass\u00e9e sector on the Loos Salient with X\/6 based in trenches running north from the east of Givenchy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 1917, Sydney probably saw action at the Battle of Hill 70 in April and then Cambrai later that year. Though scant in general information, the War Diary for this period does give comprehensive statistics of how many rounds each battery fired on any given day. For example, during June 1917, X\/6 fired a daily average of about 68 rounds, with 136 sent over on 2 June alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sydney was granted two weeks&#8217; leave to the United Kingdom on 17 January 1918 while he was billeted in Bapaume and is likely to have returned to his unit on 4 February. Throughout early March, his section worked on a gun pit near St. Leger and remained in a constant state of high alert. In the event of a hostile attack, each pit maintained a Stokes bomb, which was to be used to blow up the weapons and prevent them from falling into enemy hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">At 4:30 am on 21 March, the Germans opened what would later be known as the \u2018Spring Offensive\u2019 with a massive artillery bombardment on Allied lines. Following this, overwhelming numbers of the enemy infantry advanced, with Sydney\u2019s position rapidly overrun, and it appears he probably blew himself up while trying to destroy his guns. He\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was reported<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as missing in action shortly afterwards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A few days before the offensive began, Sydney had written to his relatives, and the letter was delivered the day after he died. It would be the last time they, or Sydney\u2019s fianc\u00e9e (a Miss Russell of Sundridge), heard from him. Almost a year later, on 8 February 1919, his fianc\u00e9e placed an advert in the Kent Messenger, asking for any returning soldiers who had known Sydney to get in touch, particularly those released from the prisoner of war camps. The months of uncertainty came to an end two weeks later when Private Bridgland was recorded for official purposes as \u2018presumed dead\u2019 on or before 22 March 1918.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His body was either never recovered or identified later, and he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is commemorated<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0on the Arras Memorial in northern France.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-439","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10275,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/439\/revisions\/10275"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}