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| Private Sydney Dale |
1893 Sydney was born at 46 Factory Road, Hinckley to George Dale who was a shoe riveter and Sarah Ann (nee Cuer). He was the brother to Lily, Florence Mary, Doris Mabel and Cyril George.
1911 Sydney, aged 17 years old and was shown on the 1911 census as living at 23 Nutfield Road, Leicester and his occupation was a Clothing Store Apprentice.
3rd December 1915 Sydney, aged 22 years old, enlisted with the 6th Battalion of the Leicester Regiment, known as 'The Tigers' at the Leicester Town Hall.
Showing on his army records, he was 5ft 11in, 10.3 Stone (144 Lbs), 37in chest and with a good Physical development. Sydney was made Private 201895 in the Army and was sent to join the fight in France.
Wednesday 18th September 1918 Private Sydney, aged 25 years old died of his wounds at Lechelle in France. He was laid to rest at Five Points Cemetery, Lechelle in France. His father chose the epitaph for his grave and it's understood that his mother and brother visited on one occasion.
31st July 2014 Sydney's name was added to a plaque on the Hinckley War Memorial along with a short service to commemorate the occasion.
At the outbreak of the First World War the 1st Battalion was in Ireland and the 2nd Battalion in India. Before the Armistice came four years later, the Regiment had expanded to nineteen battalions, of which the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th were Territorial battalions.
August 1914 The 6th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment was raised at Leicester as part of Kitchener's First New Army and joined 9th (Scottish) Division as Divisional Troops.
April 1915 The 110th Infantry Brigade of the 37th Division was composed of the Leicestershire Regiment 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Territorial Battalions of the Regiment.
29th July 1915 The Division proceeded to France, concentrating near Tilques.
7th July 1916 They transferred with 110th Brigade to 21st Division.
They won great glory by their brilliant attack on the Bazentin-Le Petit wood and village in the Battle of the Somme.
1917 they were in action during The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Arras offensive, the Third Battles of Ypres and The Cambrai Operations.
1918 they fought on The Somme then moved north and were in action during the Battles of the Lys,the Battle of the Aisne, The Somme, the Battles of the Hindenburg Line and the Final Advance in Picardy.
11th November 1918 At the Armistice the Division were around Berlaimont, on the 12th they moved to Beaufort, then in mid-December they moved west of Amiens and demobilisation began being completed by the 19th of May 1919.
The Armistice began at on 11th November 1918 at 11am (French time) - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The Armistice itself was agreed 6 hours earlier at 5am with the first term of it being that fighting would end at 11am.
The Armistice was an agreement signed by representatives of France, Great Britain and Germany. It was an agreement to end fighting as a prelude to peace negotiations. The Treaty of Versailles signed six months later would act as the peace treaty between the nations. Although "armistice" is used as a term to describe any agreement to end fighting in wars, "The Armistice" commonly refers to the agreement to end the fighting of the First World War.
The Armistice was designed to end the fighting of World War One, and the terms of it would make it impossible for Germany to restart the war, at least in the short term. They were ordered to give up 2,500 heavy guns, 2,500 field guns, 25,000 machine guns, 1,700 aeroplanes and all submarines they possessed (they were originally asked to give up more submarines than they actually had!). They were also asked to give up several warships and disarm all of the ones that they were allowed to keep.
By signing The Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany were made to accept the blame for the First World War and would have to pay reparations for the damage caused, estimated to total about £22 billion in current money. It was only in 2010 that Germany paid off its war debt, with a final payment of £59 million.
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