Born on the 12th August 1894 Sidney was the youngest child of William and Mary Ann Batchelor, of Station Road, Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire. Whilst Sidney enrolled in the Infants School in the period when the records are lost, it is known that he moved up to the Boys School on the 1st July 1901.  Both the Boys School Register and the census earlier in the year confirm the family as living in Station Road, or Husbandman’s End as it was previously known.  Sadly the census also shows that Mary is a Widow.   The School Records show that Sidney left school on the 1st June 1908. The Evesham Journal of the 26th September 1914 lists Sidney as having joined Gloucestershire Regiment. His Medal Index Card shows that he joined the 1st/5th Battalion, which had a Shipston Company that before the war met on Wednesday evenings. On mobilisation the Gloucesters were sent to their war station on the Isle of Wight. Shortly after they were relieved and moved to Swindon, followed by a move to Chelmsford where they spent the winter training.  By March 1915 the 48th (South Midland) Division, of whom the 1st/5th Gloucesters were part, were ready for overseas service. To mark this they were inspected by the King and then entrained to Folkestone for the crossing to Boulogne, where they arrived at 11pm on the 29th March 1915. On the 7th April the Battalion went into the front line for the first time at Ploegsteert Wood and remained there for a fairly quiet three months.  Not long after this Sidney was ill with pneumonia and was sent home to recover, returning in time for a cold winter in the trenches on the Somme. On the 17th March 1917 they took part in a raid on the German trenches. On entering the trenches they found very few of the enemy and pressed on through the support lines, eventually reaching the German third line.  It turned out that the Germans, in an attempt to shorten their front, had retreated to the Hindenburg Line, a line of pre-prepared and heavily reinforced trenches several miles back.  On the 21st November 1917 the Division moved to Italy where it helped the Italians fight off the advance of Austro-Hungarian Army.  They left France for Italy on the 24th November and were in billets at St. Gregorio by the end of the month, and didn’t go into the front line trenches until the New Year. On the 15th June 1918 Sidney and the Gloucesters were in the trenches on the Asiago Plateau in northern Italy.  Following a pre-dawn bombardment the Austro-Hungarians attacked, trying to outflank the Gloucesters’ position. At about 7:30am the Gloucesters fell back to a new line of defence from where they inflicted heavy losses on their attackers, particularly on the left flank.  However by 9:15am the Austro-Hungarians had again managed to work their way around the Gloucesters flanks forcing them to retire twice more in the next hour. During these movements, due to the very thick woods, the companies within the Battalion lost contact with each other and suffered a high number of casualties.  With the assistance of three Artillery guns this line was held until 12:30pm when the Austro-Hungarians brought up more machine guns and fired on the Gloucesters from their flanks. Falling back again the Gloucesters made contact with the Royal Warwicks on their left at about 1:30pm, and an attempt was then made to retake the woods. The Austro-Hungarians brought up further reinforcements including more machine guns and the Gloucesters retired to a position where several more enemy attacks were repulsed. The day ended in a stalemate.  It was not until the following morning that the Gloucesters, with help from the Royal Berkshires on their right and Royal Warwicks on their left, regained their original front line. In this attack, which is known as ‘The Fighting on the Asiago Plateau’, the 1st/ 5th Gloucesters lost 28 killed, 120 missing and 69 wounded. The Evesham Journal of the 13th July 1918 reported: Mrs Batchelor, Station-road, Shipston-on-Stour has received official intimation that her son, Lance-Corpl Sidney John Batchelor, died of wounds on June 17 received in action on the Italian and Austrian front in the recent fighting. Lance-Corpl Batchelor belonged to the Shipston Company of the Gloucester Territorials when war broke out. He went to France with his regiment in the latter part of 1915, but was, after a short time, laid up with pneumonia.  After recouping in England he went to France at the end of 1916 and had seen considerable fighting through 1917, at the end of the year he went to Italy with the Expeditionary Force. He was of a jolly disposition and very popular with his comrades. The following week an additional report about Sidney’s death was published: Mrs Batchelor, of Station-road, Shipston-on-Stour, has received a very interesting letter from Corpl T Gould, who was a comrade of her son Lance-Corpl Sidney John Batchelor, who died of wounds received in action on the Italian front as reported last week. Corpl Gould says:- “Poor old Syd was one of my best pals, and I feel I must write and tell you how very grieved I am to hear that he has died in hospital, and to offer my deepest sympathy with you in your loss. I hoped very much that he would recover, but I knew he was very badly wounded and was afraid there was very little hope from the start. He was one of the very best of fellows, and will be very much missed in the battalion, as he was always cheery and everyone liked him. He and I used to be in the same Lewis Gun section together, and have had some rough times in France, and though I did not see much of him lately, since I have been in the orderly room, we often used to meet when we were out of the line and have a good time together.  He had always been pretty lucky in the line, but this war goes on and on, and I don’t think there will be many of us left by the time it is over. Most of his old pals have gone before him, either wounded or killed.” Sidney is buried in the Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension near Vicenza in Italy. He is remembered on both of the School Memorials and the Town Memorial.

Mike Wells