Sidney was born in Skerton, Lancaster in 1894 and served as a Private in the King’s Own, during WWI. Like many others, Sidney wouldn’t talk about the war, and never mentioned any names. However, he did have one friend, called Sid, who would visit him, and they would go out for a drive in his car, and they would spend hours talking, although no-one ever knew what about. Sidney also worked at the Caton Road Prisoner of War Camp, in the gatehouse.

During the middle of a battle, Sidney was shot in the head by a sniper and was left for dead. However, when they were gathering bodies, they came across Sidney who was still barely alive. He was taken to a surgeon who said he couldn’t do anything and was not expected to survive. Yet, Sidney pulled through, and survived against the odds. Years later, Sidney met the same surgeon who had treated him and was greeted with astonishment as the surgeon had not expected him to survive.

Due to his injuries, Sidney suffered from intense headaches, and later had the plate removed, but he also had problems with tripping over as he got older, and struggled with loud noises, such as children crying.