BORN HULL 1894. MOTHER MARY ROGERS ABOVE ADDRESS. HULL PAL. DIED OF WOUNDS. LISTED ON THE HULL BOYS CLUB MEMORIAL, ROPER STREET.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE SYDNEY ROGERS 14/83. Born July 1894, Sidney was the youngest of five sons to Thomas and Mary Rogers of 12 Edinburgh Street, Hull. A Fish Packer on the docks before the war. described as 5 foot, 3 inches tall, 34-36 inch chest, 126lbs weight, good physical development.
He enlisted at Hull City Hall on 26th October 1915 initially joining the 1/4th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment before being transferred to the 11th upon his arrival in France on St. George’s Day 02/04/1916. Sidney was listed as “wounded and missing, believed to have died of wounds” following the attack on Oppy Wood on 3rd May 1917. I have been struck by the number of men listed so. It must have been hell for their families at home, such an inconclusive fate. There must have been thousands of parents out there secretly harbouring the silent hope of the return of a son, praying they had been captured or wounded and taken in by another unit, or suffering amnesia….anything to not admit the truth they dare not face. Horrendous. Sidney’s body was recovered after the Armistice, exhumed and reburied in Lievin Communal Cemetery Extension; he was 23 years old. His brothers Greg & Ned both played for Hull FC. Ned still holds the record number of appearances for the club, and they played alongside Jack Harrison VC before he went off to war. Sydney Rogers and Jack Harrison died on the same fateful day as did many others.
Sydney Rogers served in the army for 2 years and 150 days. His army effects were left to his brothers, George and Gregor.He is commemorated on the WW1 Memorial at St John The Baptist Church, Newington, Hull.
