Sidney Charles Warren was born in the spring of 1894, and was one of a dozen children to William and Eliza Warren. William was a farm labourer and shepherd from Somerset, and it was in the village of Combe Florey, near Taunton, that Sidney was born. The Warrens’ sons all followed William into farm work, and the 1911 census found the family – then eight strong – living in a three-room cottage in the village.

When war broke out, Sidney was quick to enlist. He joined the 5th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry on 16th December 1914, and which was based in Prior Park, near Bath.

The following month, Private Warren became unwell. His father later reported that he had “from childhood… suffered from his chest, and if he caught the slightest cold he became very short of breath. He could not run and jump about like other boys.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 6th February 1915]

On 27th January, Sidney reported sick to Captain Brimblecombe of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was suffering from a cold, and was given quinine. He reported sick again on the 28th, and the medical officer, gave him more quinine. The following day, Private Warren returned to duty.

That afternoon, after drill duties, Sidney and a couple of friends, George Berry and George Lewis, went into Bath for a few hours. They went to the White Hart Public House and had a drink and a meal. The two of them then made their way back to Priory Park around 8pm.

On the way up the hill [Sidney] called to [his friends]… “Come quick.” They went back, and caught hold of him, and he said “I’m dying.” They laid him down on the road, and [George Berry] went up to Priory Park for a doctor. A Red Cross man came down with a stretcher, and [Sidney] was conveyed to the Police Station and then to the Hospital.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 6th February 1915

Private Warren passed away while at the hospital. A post mortem was held, which found that all of his organs were healthy, and that his lungs were “voluminous, but showed no signs of disease. The heart appeared perfectly healthy.” The coroner attributed Sidney’s passing to syncope after “a large undigested meal and walking up-hill”. He was just 20 years of age when he passed.

Sidney Charles Warren was laid to rest in the St James’ Cemetery in Bath, the city in which he passed away.

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