Soldier Record

My maternal grandfather Sydney Welch served in the Suffolk Regiment (Cambridge section) during the Great War. Not a lot of information remains about his war service and experiences as after his death, his letters from the front to home were destroyed by relatives once my grandmother herself had died.The information I include about him comes from memories provided by my mother and others.

Sydney Welch joined the Suffolk Regt but transferred to the Machine Gun Regt when it was formed though I think such soldiers still kept their original regimental affiliations.He fought in the Battle of the Somme. He was wounded twice and returned to England. He spent time convalescing in hospital in Newmarket Rd. (where he later lived) in Cambridge. He went back to the front lines and during an attack he was hit by shrapnel and went down. Someone in his regiment who knew him from living in their home village of Milton, saw him fall and reported him missing, presumed killed. My grandmother was informed that this was what the Army believed about his fate. My grandmother apparently never gave up hope that he was still alive, though she heard nothing from or about him though she was actually correct in her assumptions!

He wasn't klled and in fact he was picked up and captured by the Germans. Usually P.OW.'s were eventually sent to a camp when they could send Red Cross postcards to their loved ones whilst British authorities would also be informed. However, sometimes Aliied P.O.W.'s were kept in or near the front lines even though this was forbidden by Red Cross regulations, it being specified they should be approx. 3 miles distant. As this was an illegal situation such P.O.W's capture was not reported and this was the situation relating to my grandfather. He was looked after by a German doctor in their front lines (presumg that he was only lightly wounded) and after recovery he was made to help this doctor in the front line areas.In apreciation the doctor made a wooden carry case for my grandfather which I still have.

Later he made friends with a German padre.This man used to go to the nearby P.O.W. camp and so whilst there he sent an army card to my grandmother. Of course this was a great shock as she hadn't heard anything for almost a year.Then Red Cross people were sent to the camp to establish his identity but they couldn't find him, leading to further confusion and angst !

Sometime later, he was moved to a rear hospital to work as an orderly. By this time the war was drawing to a close and during the final days or months he helped a French P.O.W. to escape by leaving a window open. After the war he received a letter from this grateful ally saying 'you are my friend and I will always be grateful to you' and his name... Jeanne Welsch !!

Like many men who had served in the trenches he rarely spoke of his experiences and so this is a treasured family memory.