Lance Corporal Sidney Charles Lucas
Service | Army | Service No. | 3/6029 |
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Rank | Lance Corporal | |||
Regiment: | Devonshire Regiment, 1st Battalion | |||
Date of Birth: | 1892Born Dawlish | Date of Death: | 30/08/1916 | |
Memorial: | Dawlish | Memorial Inscription | LUCAS S. CORPL. DEVON REGT. |
Service History |
It is not known when Sidney enlisted at Exeter with the First Devons. This was one of the permanent battalions of the Devonshire Regiment that left its posting in Jersey, the Channel Islands and was sent to France on 21st August 1914. In September 1914, during their first spell in the line, they suffered 100 casualties from shelling. In October on the La Bassee Canal they supported the badly mauled 1st Dorsets and helped capture Givenchy Ridge. The Devons performed well during a bitter three-week battle but lost two thirds of their officers and a third of their men. From November they occupied Messines Ridge in rain and sleet, often knee- or waist-deep in mud and icy water. On 21st April 1915 they occupied Hill 60, which had been captured on 17th April. Counter-attacks and heavy shelling cost them more than 200 casualties. When the Somme offensive began on 1st July 1916 the Devons were at Arras but returned to the Somme, to consolidate the line around Longueval. Shellfire and German counter-attacks cost them 265 casualties. In September they made two very successful advances near Guillemont at a cost of 376 casualties. (keepmilitarymuseum.org) |
Association with Dawlish |
Sidney Charles Lucas was the youngest child of William Henry Lucas (1852-1933) and Emily Brown (1857-1895). The family had been living in Manor Row, Dawlish in 1881 but moved to Chapel Street (No 14 in 1891). In 1901 William Henry Lucas was living at No 13 Chapel Street with all of his children. Henry James Lucas married Elizabeth Pearce of Dawlish in Q3, 1907 and they lived at 3 Chapel Street, Dawlish while he was a mason's labourer. In the 1911 census Sidney Charles Lucas is living with them and working as a general labourer. |
Devon Roll of Honour | Lucas S, Corpl, Devon Regt (no date or field of action shown) is listed on the Devon Roll of Honour and the Dawlish Boys' School Roll of Honour |
Additional Information |
Commonwealth War Graves Site |
Next of Kin: | William Henry Lucas, father. |
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Last Known Address: | 3 Chapel Street, Dawlish |
Devonshire Regiment, 1st Battalion in WW1
Records via subscription services:
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Census records
Military records