Tasburgh Quarterly and Church News - Spring 2014
Tasburgh Memories As 2014 sees the centenary anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war, we continue our series of articles exploring the stories behind the names on our war memorial... Sydney Albert Matthews, born 1898, was the son of Albert and Ellen Mary Matthews living in a three bedroomed house in Low Road, Tasburgh in 1911. Albert, born in 1867, was working as a builder. There were three other surviving children:- Mark one year older; Mildred Mary born 1905 and Ivy Maud 1909 Sydney served in the Army Service Corps "F" Coy as a driver probably of horse wagons but possibly the early trucks. He possibly joined in 1915 with the last wave of volunteers before the introduction of conscription and was assigned, due to his skills with horses, to the ASC, and sent with reinforcements to join the re-forming 13 Division rebuilding after the battle of Gallipoli. The Mesopotamia campaign started in 1914 as a combined force of 2 Indian Army and one British division sent to seize the oil field at the top of the Persian Gulf. Oil was a major resource as the Royal Navy had moved from coal to oil in the early part of the century. The mission expanded and the force took Basra and pushed on up the Euphrates river toward Baghdad. At Kut Al Amara below Baghdad the force was encircled by the Turkish army and in April 1916 was forced to surrender. The 13th division with a further two Indian divisions failed to arrive in time to lift the siege. The new force did however take Baghdad in April 1917. Conditions in Mesopotamia defy description. Extremes of temperature (120 degrees Fahrenheit was common); arid desert and regular flooding; flies, mosquitoes and other vermin: all led to appalling levels of sickness and death through disease. Under these conditions, units fell short of officers and men, and all too often the reinforcements were half-trained and illequipped. Medical arrangements were quite shocking, with wounded men spending up to two weeks on boats before reaching any kind of hospital. These factors, plus of course the unexpectedly determined Turkish resistance, contributed to high casualty rates. As Sydney died in July it is likely that he died from sickness or accident, or as recent events have shown, ambushed by locals for the supplies. 28