Suffolk Yeomanry & Royal Munster Fusiliers
War Service
It is likely that Sidney Aldis signed up by his 18th Birthday in Aug 1915 and was almost immediately sent with his regiment to support the attack on Gallipoli in the Dardanelles of Turkey, setting sail from Liverpool on SS Olympic on 25 Sep and landing at Anzac Cove on 10 Oct under command of 54th (East Anglian) Div. He and his unit were evacuated to Egypt in Dec and spent 1916 in a dismounted role guarding the Suez Canal until Jul and thereafter as part of the Western Frontier Force. On 5 Jan his unit was formally converted to infantry and became 15th (Suffolk Yeo) Bn, Suffolk Regt, joining 74th Div in Gen Allenby’s Palestine campaign that culminated in the capture of Jerusalem in Dec 17. Due to the German offensive on the Western Front in Mar, the Div and Bn were ordered to France but Sidney was transferred to the Royal Munster Fusiliers of 10th Div and fought on in Palestine with them to the successful conclusion of that campaign in Oct 1918.
Connection to Waldringfield
Sidney Aldis was born in Waldringfield on 4 Aug 1897 and was baptised at All Saints Church on 1 Dec 1897. He was the second child of Walter James and Laura Aldis (nee Farrow) of River View Cottages. He lived in the village all his life and was the church warden, just like his son Walter, who lives in Village Way.
Life after the War
After the war, Sidney Aldis returned to being a farm labourer, primarily looking after the working horses, largely Suffolk Punches (hence his service with the Yeomanry – a reserve cavalry regiment). On 23 Dec 1926 he married Ethel Emily Evans (a soldier’s daughter) and between the wars they lived in Ryefield, Cliff Road. After WW2 they lived in Elm Cottage, Sandy Lane until his death on 4 Aug 1978 (his 81st Birthday). He barely mentioned his war service to his son Walter, despite the latter being a serving sailor in the RN 1944-58 who sailed, oblivious of his father’s service in Egypt, through the very Suez Canal he had guarded all those years earlier.
