GV Military Medal correctly impressed 325513 Pte S Gill 1/1 CAM: R.-T.F.
1914/15 Star, correctly impressed 2097 Pte. S. Gill. CAMB.R.
British War Medal, correctly impressed 2097 Pte. S. Gill. CAMB.R.
Victory Medal, correctly impressed 2097 Pte. S. Gill. CAMB.R.
Condition = NEF
| Estimate: | £1,200 - £1,400 |
| Hammer price: | £2,000 |
Sidney Gill was born in March, Cambridgeshire, in 1894. He resided with his family at 19 Elwyn Road in March.
A pre-war Territorial, Sidney arrived in France with the 1/1st Bn on the 14th of February 1915.
On the 14th / 15th of May 1917, Gill took part in a raid on the German-held Canadian Trench in front of St Julien. The raiders consisted of four officers and 70 men from D Company; they were commanded on the raid by Captain Awbrey. The raid was pre-empted by a bombardment of the German lines, with the enemy responding. The purpose of the raid was to secure prisoners for intelligence gathering.
After the German bombardment lifted, the raiding party advanced under a dummy barrage. On return, the password was to be 'Bully Beef' and the answer 'Napoo'
The raid succeeded, with two German prisoners being taken from an enemy sap trench. The artillery kept the enemy in check, and on the patrol's withdrawal, the Germans reappeared in their front-line trenches and fired off a number of rifle shots; it was believed no more than 15 in total.
It was reported that the morale of the raiding party was exemplary from start to finish, with them treating it as a 'great sport' and 'an immense joke from start to finish.
On the 25th of May 1917, it was noted in the war diary that Gill and Pte E Buck had been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry during the raid. Gill's MM was announced in the London Gazette on the 9th of July 1917.
Sidney was sadly killed in action on the 26th of September 1917 when his Bn attacked the Joist Redout. He is remembered on the Tyne Cote Memorial.
