Sidney Harttree – Newfoundland Regiment, 1st Battalion

Private Sidney Harttree – Newfoundland Regiment, 1^st Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Sidney Harttree was born in 1892 in Swansea. He was the son of Thomas Harttree and Mary Ann Thomas, who were married in 1888 at St. Mary’s Church, Swansea.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Harttree family were recorded as living at Eaton Road, Swansea, in the household of David Thomas, Mary Ann’s father.

David Thomas (63), born in Liverpool, was employed as a copper worker, while his wife Mary (64), born in Merthyr Tydfil, managed the household. Also residing there were their daughter Mary Ann, her husband Thomas Harttree (46), employed as a joiner and carpenter, and their son Sidney (9).

Later in 1901, Mary Ann Harttree died, leaving Sidney motherless at a young age.

Later Family Circumstances

In 1903, Thomas Harttree remarried, taking Anna Hale as his third wife. Thomas later died in 1909, leaving Sidney orphaned while still in his teens.

1911 Census

By the time of the 1911 Census, Sidney Harttree was living at 21 Pegler Street, Brynhyfryd, Swansea, with his stepmother Anna Harttree, who was recorded as a widow aged 64. Sidney, aged 16, was employed as an apprentice painter, indicating that he had begun learning a trade.

Emigration and Military Service

At an unknown date after 1911, Sidney emigrated to Canada, joining many young Welshmen seeking work and opportunity overseas. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he enlisted for military service and served as a Private with the Newfoundland Regiment, 1^st Battalion.

The Newfoundland Regiment, although recruited in what was then a separate Dominion, served with distinction alongside British forces on the Western Front.

Death in Action

Sidney Harttree was killed in action on 3^rd August 1916 during the fighting of the Battle of the Somme, one of the most intense and costly campaigns of the war. His death came only weeks after the regiment’s catastrophic losses at Beaumont-Hamel, as the unit continued to serve in the front lines under relentless conditions.

Burial and Commemoration

Sidney Harttree
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery,
West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

Sidney Harttree is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, one of the largest Commonwealth cemeteries, where many soldiers who died of wounds in the Ypres and Somme sectors are laid to rest.

His life reflects a journey from industrial Swansea, through family loss and apprenticeship, to emigration and military service overseas, ending with his sacrifice on the battlefields of Belgium during the First World War