7841 Private

S.TACK

Northamptonshire Regt.

Died 24th November 1914 Age 27

On the Great War Forum there is an article about Sidney from Simon Bull. I hope he doesn't mind me including it here:

Sidney Tack was the first of the men commemorated on the Memorial of the Harrowdens in Northamptonshire to die. It has not been possible to obtain a photograph of him, but his service records give a good description of him. In 1905, when he joined the Army he was 5 feet 5½ inches tall. However he seems to have grown and reached the height of 5 feet and 6¾ inches by the time of his discharge to the Army Reserve in 1912. This reflects the fact that he was approximately 15, and not the 18 that he claimed to be, when he joined the Army! At 15 when he joined the Army he was a little over 8½ stone. He had a fresh complexion and blue eyes with light brown hair.

Sidney Tack was born in approximately 1890. His father was called Charles and his mother Sarah, and Sidney had at least one sibling, a brother, who was called Charlie.

He joined the Army in 1905, enlisting at Wellingborough and describing himself as a farm labourer. Once in the Army he seems to have had an extremely chequered career. He was convicted of an offence of losing, by neglect, his equipment. His offending led to him being confined to barracks on a number of occasions, and serving periods of detention, the longest of which was 10 days.

During his initial period of service with the Northamptonshire Regiment he served abroad in Aden, in India (where records show him to have been stationed in Poona), and in Malta. In India he contracted malaria which he seems to have subsequently suffered from recurrently.

In 1912 he was serving in Malta when he was returned to the United Kingdom on the basis that he would be transferred to the Reserve upon his arrival in the United Kingdom. This was before the end of his normal term of engagement. It is not possible to say so conclusively, but there is a strong inference that the Army had "had enough" of Sidney Tack and was getting him off its hands.
At the outbreak of War, he was recalled to his Regiment and attached to the 1st Battalion. He was very rapidly sent to France and arrived in France on the 13th of August 1914.

He probably saw action in the Battle of the Aisne in mid-September 1914.

In the chaotic period of mobile warfare that took place in late October and early November 1914 the 1st Battalion War Diary was lost, and it is difficult to piece together exactly what happened to Sidney Tack. However the seriousness of the fighting which the Battalion was involved in during this period is clear from the fact that, by 16 November 1914, the Battalion's strength had been reduced from approximately 1000 men to 300 men, with only two officers left.

By mid-October 1914 the 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment found itself involved in the First Battle of Ypres, in which the German advance in the Ypres area was halted. It was during this Battle, on 26 October 1914, that Sidney Tack suffered a terrible wound. Shrapnel from a shell entered his body and fractured his spine rendering him completely paraplegic.

After being wounded, Sidney Tack made his way down the chain of units treating wounded soldiers until he eventually reached a General Hospital at Boulogne. From there he was brought back to England by ship on 8 November 1914, and taken to the military hospital at Netley, near Southampton. There he died on 24 November 1914 and was buried in the cemetery at the Hospital.

He was awarded the 1914 Star, together with a clasp, the War Medal and the Victory Medal.

344 Serjeant

A. TAYLOR

Seaforth Highlanders

Died 27th June 1915

Alexander died from his wounds. He was the son of William - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

202498 Private

A. TAYLOR

The Cameronians (Sco. Rif.)

Died 18th March 1917

Alexander died from his wounds. His mother was Isabella - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

2232 Private

C. TAYLOR

Royal Sussex Regiment

Died 14th April 1920 Age 32

Charles

10706808 Private

D. TAYLOR

Royal Army Service Corps

Died 19th February 1944

David

141 Private

G. TAYLOR

Royal Army Medical Corps

Died 28th March 1915 Age 23

George

R/366656 Private

H.A. TAYLOR

Royal Army Service Corps

Died 24th November 1918

Horace Arthur was the brother of Walter, William and Henry - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

6383 Private

JAMES TAYLOR

Border Regiment

Died 14th April 1915 Age 24

Burial record states that James died on the hospital ship Oxfordshire in the English Channel aged 36 years and 10 months.

L/8715 Lance Cpl.

H.TEE

The Queen's

Died 9th November 1914 Age 27

Until The Dawn Break

Harry was a Carriage cleaner.He was married to Alice Harriet - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

845015 Bombardier

A.H. THOMAS

Royal Field Artillery

Died 7th April 1918 Age 22

Sleep On Beloved

& Take Thy Rest

Alfred Herbert was the son of Daisy - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

11707 L.Cpl

A. THOMPSON

Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Died 17th June 1915 Age 19

  He Gave His Life

For King And Country

Alfred died from Enteric which he contracted on active service. His mother was Emma - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

8804 Private

E.H. THOMPSON

Royal Army Service Corps

Died 17th April 1920 Age 58

Edward Henry

18631 Lance Cpl

B.J. TIBBEY

Royal Army Medical Corps

Died 4th May 1921 Age 36

Benjamin James was married to Laoni Mary Kate Lidbury with whom he had 4 children, Ivy, Harold, Ethel and John who later died. They lived in Albert Rd Southampton in the 1911 census.

8/5718 Private

 J. TIERNEY

Royal Munster Fusiliers

Died 3rd November 1916 Age 21

John.

6320 Private

A. TOMKINS

Durham Light Infantry

Died 23rd February 1917

Alfred died in the University War Hospital in Southampton - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

30877 Private

F.J. TOMPKINS

Dorsetshire Regiment

Died 16th May 1918 Age 25

   Sadly Missed

By All Who Loved Him

Frederick John was the son of Walter - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

L/10782 Private

F. TRAYNOR

Middlesex Regiment

Died 18th October 1915

Frank died from his wounds. His brother was William - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

F/704 Private

P.E. TRIGGS

Middlesex Regiment

Died 9th September 1916 Age 27

God Grant Him Eternal Rest

Burial record states that Percy died in the University War Hospital Southampton aged 27.

16355 Corporal

T TURNBULL

Royal Berkshire Regiment

Died 26th July 1916 Age 21

He Died That We Might Live

Thomas died from his wounds. He was the son of Harriet - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.

T/2260 Private

T.R. TUTT

E. Kent Regt. (The Buffs)

Died 29th January 1917 Age 43

There Is A Blessed Home

Thomas was married to Clara - Army Registers of Soldiers Effects.