Sydney Critchley

Private Sydney (Sidney) Critchley – Welsh Regiment, 9^th Battalion

Early Life

Harry James Critchley and Elizabeth Mary Prout
marriage certificate
St. Marys church

Sydney (Sidney) Critchley was born in Swansea in 1895, the youngest child of Harry James Critchley and Elizabeth Mary Prout, who had married at St. Mary’s Church, Swansea, in 1875.

1901 Census

By the time of the 1901 Census, the Critchley family was living at Coed Season, Sketty. Harry, then 48, was employed as a house painter and decorator, while Elizabeth was 47. Their children at home were Emily (20), Harry (19), a gardener, Frank (13), Eveline (9), and Sydney (6).

1911 Census

A decade later, the 1911 Census records the family at 41 Coed Season, Sketty. Harry, aged 59, was still working as a house painter for Swansea Corporation, while Elizabeth was 57. Only two of their children were still living at home: Evelyn (20) and Sydney (17).

Military Service

Sydney enlisted in the Welsh Regiment, 9^th Battalion, during the First World War, serving as a Private.

The 9^th (Service) Battalion, Welsh Regiment was part of the 58^th Brigade, 19^th (Western) Division, which by mid-1917 was stationed in the Ypres Salient in Belgium — one of the most dangerous and heavily contested sectors of the Western Front. In the months leading up to the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), which began on 31 July 1917, the battalion was engaged in raids, patrols, and limited attacks intended to weaken German positions and prepare for the larger offensive.

Conditions in Flanders were notoriously harsh, with waterlogged trenches, constant artillery bombardments, sniper fire, and the threat of gas. Even outside major offensives, casualties were high. It was during this demanding phase of operations, on 2 July 1917, that Private Sydney Critchley was killed in action.

Death

Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects

Private Sydney Critchley lost his life on 2^nd July 1917 in Belgium. He was just 22 years old.

Burial

Sydney Critchley
Irish House Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Sydney is buried at Irish House Cemetery, Belgium, a small battlefield cemetery close to the front lines. The site takes its name from a nearby inn called the “Irish House” and was used from June to December 1917, primarily for burials from the operations leading up to and including the Third Battle of Ypres. Today, it contains over 160 Commonwealth burials, most from that summer and autumn.

Here, among many of his comrades of the Welsh Regiment and other units, Sydney Critchley has his final resting place.

Legacy

Private Sydney Critchley is remembered locally on the St. Paul’s Church war memorial, Sketty, and at his grave in Belgium. As the youngest child of his family, his loss was deeply felt, and his sacrifice endures as part of the story of Sketty’s contribution to the Great War.