No.G/24430, Private, Sidney James GRIMWOOD
Aged 29
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Sydney James Grimwood was born in 1889 at Ingham,(Thingoe Q1-1889 4A:700) son of Charles Jessop and Hannah Elizabeth GRIMWOOD (née RAYNOR). Civilian records he is usually Sydney, military he is Sidney
1891 census...Aged 2, he was at Seven Hills Cottages, Ingham with his father Charles J GRIMWOOD [35] farm labourer born Little Livermere; his mother Hannah E [32] born Ingham; half-brother Joseph W RAYNOR [11] born Yorkshire; sisters Agnes [5] and Alvina [5] and brother Bertie G [1 month] all born in Ingham. 1901 census...Aged 13, he was at The Alley, Barton Mills with his mother Hannah [48 ?]; sisters Ethel [9] and brother Percy [6] both born in Kennett; sisters Lottie [4] and Daisy [18 months] both born in Barton Mills. His father was an inmate at the Workhouse. 1911 census...Aged 21, a brick layer's labourer, he was in Turnpike Road, Barton Mills with his parents (father now recorded as 58, out of work farm labourer, mother as 52 and born Ingham) and brother Percy and sister Daisy Bertie (1891-1892) had died and one other sibling. He married Ethel I EAGLE (b.17-8-1892) (Bosmere Q4-1913 4A:2111). They had a son, Leslie S GRIMWOOD in 1914.
The pension card has his widow at Thatched Cottage, High Street, Coddingham (Coddenham), Suffolk) with their two children, Leslie Sydney 10-5-1914 and Barbara Cicely 21-12-1917
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He enlisted in Bury St. Edmunds. S.S. Osmanieh, owned by Khedivial Mail S.S. & Graving Dock Company, built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Yard 761, was launched on 9th May 1906. Weight: 4,041 tons, Speed 17 knots. She was taken over as a fleet auxiliary, commanded by Lt Commander D.R.Mason. She served during the Gallipoli Campaign. Mentioned in several War Diaries for the period of the campaign, she also ran weekly mail and supply runs from Malta to Mudros for over a year in spite of constant attacks by submarines. On 30th December 1917 the troopship SS 'Aragon' arrived at the Egyptian harbour of Alexandria with 2,700 troops on board, bound for the conflict in Palestine; Forced to lay off shore as there was no room to berth, she was torpedoed by a German submarine. Just as the hunt for survivors of the sinking was being called off, fleet auxiliary craft HMS 'Osmanieh' was hit by a mine in the same area and went down taking 197 soldiers (18 of them from the Middlesex Regiment) and 8 nurses with her. Sydney was on board the 'Osmanieh'. The log book of the submarine UC34 shows that on December 20, 1917, UC 34 under Oberleutnant zur See, Horst Obermüller sailed from Cattaro for the Eastern Mediterranean. On December 26th, she laid seven mines in two fields off Alexandria. UC 34 then sailed for Port Said, where she laid eight mines on the 28th. Obermüller was able to glean from radio intercepts that one of his minefields had been discovered and swept. In response, UC 34 turned back towards Alexandria and laid her last three mines on December 30th in the just swept waters. While off Alexandria on the 30th, UC 34 torpedoed and sank the troop transport Aragon (610 dead) and the destroyer HMS Attack (10 dead). On December 31st, the troop transport Osmanieh hit one of the mines laid off Alexandria the day before. The steamer sank rapidly with the loss of 197 lives. The Bury Free Press of 29th May 1918 reported :- BARTON MILLS SOLDIER DROWNED We sincerely regret to hear that Prvt S.Grimwood, No.24430, Middlesex Regiment, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. C Grimwood of Church Lane, Barton Mills, has met his death under very distressing circumstances. The deceased soldier lost his life on December 30th 1917 on H.M.S.Aligan (sic), the vessel having struck a mine. Prvt Grimwood was well known in Barton Mills and district, and his death is deeply regretted by his many friends. The deceased leaves a young widow and little son, with whom every sympathy is felt in the great blow which has befallen them.
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