A Coventry Kid
Gunner Sydney Arthur Aldridge Royal Garrison Artillery
Sydney Arthur Aldridge's India General Service Medal.
Missing suspender & clasps 'Waziristan 1919 - 21 and 1921 - 24'.
The Man Sydney Arthur Aldridge was born between the 1st and 5th April 1891 in Coventry, son of Elijah, an Iron Farrier & Machinist and Amy Elizabeth. The family lived at 1 Carharrier Street(?) in the Municipal Ward of Gosford Street and Arthur was one of six children, Dorothy E, born 1894, Edith S 1897, Sybil 1897, Trevor E 1898 and Reginald 1902. Sadly Sybil died whilst still young. A year later on 10th April 1892 Sydney was baptised in St. Marks Church, Swanswell, Coventry and the family were living at 65 Stoney Stanton Road, in the city. Ten years later now aged 10, Sydney was living with his family at 19 Cobden Street off Red Lane; and was still living there in 1911, by which time he was employed at the Spon Foundry as an Apprentice Pattern Maker. Following the outbreak of World War I on 4th August 1914, Sydney enlisted into the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner and with service numbers 41821 and later 1410127. He served in India in the 12th Pack Battery RGA and was awarded the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals and India General Service Medal with clasps Waziristan 1919-21 and 1921-24. It seems that Sydney lived in Coventry all of his life and it is not know if he married, but he died in the last quarter of 1946 aged 55.
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Waziristan 1919-21 & Waziristan 1921-24 clasps to be added to Sydney's Medal.
The Story The India General Service Medal with its suspender and clasp missing were given to me during the mid nineteen nineties, by a colleague who had dug it up in his back garden! It is not recalled if the man lived at the same address in Cobden Street as Sydney, but he did live in the same area. When the medal was handed over, I asked what he would like me to do with it, really enquiring if he was giving or loaning it to me. His terse reply was "Research it"! I recall thinking that it would be impossible and not worth the effort to do so for a single broken medal. However, it lay in my collection for 15 years my attitude changing, and thanks to ancestry.com it has indeed been possible to 'research it' and put together the brief biography above. As he is also entitled to the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals this is a broken group, but at least Sydney Arthur Aldridge's life has now been partially put together for posterity.
This medal is one I have only been able to find a minimal amount of detail on. It is in effect 'work in progress' as one day something additional may well be uncovered. Please feel free to contact me should you know of, or have any information on this man.
This medal is one I have only been able to find a minimal amount of detail on. It is in effect 'work in progress' as one day something additional may well be uncovered. Please feel free to contact me should you know of, or have any information on this man.
Click here to read about the Waziristan 1919-21 Campaign
Click here to read about the Waziristan 1921-24 Campaign
Sydney Arthur Aldridge's Medal Index Card
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St.Marks Church, Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry.
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The former St. Mark’s Church, where Sydney Arthur Aldridge was baptised, is a Grade II listed building in Stoney Stanton Road, adjacent to Swanswell Park in Coventry. It was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1868 by architects Paull & Robinson.The building ceased to be a church in 1972 and between 1973 and 2006 was used as the outpatients department of Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital, when the hospital was relocated to Walsgrave as part of the University Hospital. The building is currently (2013) vacant and there are no plans for its future use. The building is owned by Coventry Diocese. The most notable feature of the building is a large mural on what was originally the east window of the church. The window was bricked up following war time bomb damage and in 1962/3 the church commissioned German émigré artist Hans Feibusch to pain a large mural, entitle ascension. Feibusch was a famous Jewish artist and was the last surviving artist who ws included on Geobal’s infamous list of ‘degenerate artists’. He emigrated to Britain and painted murals in Churches and Civic buildings around the county. He died in 1988 at the age of 99. Feibusch’s work is now recognised as being of national importance. In 2011 the Coventry Society noted that the listing particulars for the building did not include the mural. They put in a formal request to English Heritage to amend the listing to include the mural and revise other details of the listin. This was approved by the Secretary of State for Culture, Leisure & Sport in January 2013.
Medal Details
- India General Service Medal: 1410127 GNR. S.A.ALDRIDGE. R.A.
Page last updated 23 Apr 17
