6677 Pte James W Sydall, 7th Bn, East Lancs Regt

6677 Private James Wilson Sydall of the 7th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, was killed in action on the 5th July 1916. He was born in Rochdale, was living in Rochdale and enlisted at Bacup in Lancashire.

James's number indicates that he was not a Kitchener vlunteer but probably a Special Reservist who had enlisted at the end of August 1914. Given his age, it's also a possibility that he had previous military experience.

The other possibility is that James was a serving regular soldier and that 6677 belongs to the regulars' number series and dates to late March or early April 1901. Regardless of when he originally joined, he certainly arrived overseas in France on the 18th July 1915.

Although James's service record no longer survives, other records show that he had married Sarah Jane Maden in the June quarter of 1902 and it would seem a likelihood that the couple were raising a family at the time of James's death. The Commonwealth war Graves Commission confirms that James was the son of Samuel and Ann Syddall, and the husband of Janey Syddall. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme.


At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (BMD, MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission