Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

Sidney William Ware VC (11 November 1892 – 16 April 1916) was a British recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Details

Corporal Sidney William Ware, VC, was born in November 1892 at Whatcombe in the Parish of

Winterborne Whitechurch Winterborne Whitechurch is a village and civil parish in central Dorset, England, situated in a winterbourne valley on the A354 road on the Dorset Downs southwest of Blandford Forum. As calculated in the 2021 census, Winterborne Whitechurc ...

, Dorset. He was educated at the Church of England Boys' School, Whitchurch. He enlisted into the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

on 29 November 1911. He served with the 1st Battalion, the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

(Ross-shire Buffs, Duke of Albany's) and was with his battalion at

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

in India at the start of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in August 1914. His battalion, which was part of the

Dehra Dun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, ...

Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division, immediately went to Europe with the Indian Expeditionary Force A and landed in France in October, where it was in action almost immediately. Corporal Ware was wounded in November and after ten days leave on discharge from hospital, he returned to France. His battalion remained with the same brigade, now re-titled the 19th (Dehra Dun) Brigade, still part of the 7th (Meerut) Division, with it he was sent to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. Here he was again wounded in January 1916, before returning to duty a few months later. It was then that he won his Victoria Cross on 6 April 1916. During an engagement when the order was given to withdraw to the safety of a communications trench, Corporal Ware, whose cool gallantry had been very marked during the advance, was one of the few men remaining unwounded. He then picked up a wounded man and carried him some 200 yards to cover and then returned for many others, moving to and fro under very heavy fire for more than two hours, until he had brought in all of the wounded and was completely exhausted. However, although he was not injured on this occasion, he was not to be presented with his Victoria Cross as, a few days later, on 10 April, he was seriously wounded and brought back to the Persian Gulf. He died at the Rawalpindi Hospital on 16 April and was buried in the Amara War Cemetery in Iraq.CWGC entry
/ref> Always a very steady and trustworthy man, he was very fond of football and reading and was one of eight brothers of a family of 13, four of whom served in the First World War (Harold being the 4th) and one in the second (Douglas). Two were also killed in action, Sergeant Albert C. Ware, of the 1st Battalion,

Dorset Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the List of British Army regiments (1881), county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although ...

, killed on 1 July 1916, and Private Archibald Ware,

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. T ...

, who lost his life on 11 March 1915.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Highlanders Museum (The Queen's Own Highlanders Collection), Fort George, Inverness-shire, Scotland.

Bibliography

References

*''

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the f ...

'' (''This England'', 1997) *''

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a British historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took ...

'' (David Harvey, 1999)
The Queen's Own Highlanders Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, Sidney Wil 1892 births 1916 deaths Military personnel from Dorset Ware, Sidney William British Army personnel of World War I Ware, Sidney William Ware, Sidney William People from West Dorset District British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials at Amara War Cemetery