NORWOOD, Sydney Oxborough
| Service Number: | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 6th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia, 30 December 1891 |
| Home Town: | Tarnagulla, Loddon, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 7 August 1915, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Deniliquin War Memorial, Dunolly Great War Memorial, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2015, 6th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 2015, 6th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 2015, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne |
Help us honour Sydney Oxborough Norwood's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Sidney Oxborough Norwood was born on 30 December 1891 at Deniliquin, NSW, where his parents were living. By the time of World War One, the family had a hotel at Tarnagulla in Central Victoria, and Sidney signed up there on 7 January 1915 for Army service. He was aged 23 and described himself as a labourer.
Sidney joined his unit on 26 July 1915 and less than two weeks later, on 7 August 1915, he was reported missing in action.
For more than a year his father pressed the Army to for more details on what had happened to his son. As Sidney (senior) wrote: He was not seen killed, neither was he seen again after going into action - we never got his disk or any of his belongings. The AIF told the family on 27 September 1915 that it was seeking information on prisoners taken by Turkish forces - this was in responses to Sidney's persistent letters. Again, after badgering Army authorities, Sidney sent his own telegram to the Turkish War Minister in Constantinople, asking for information. In the following year, on 24 April 1916, an Army Court of Enquiry was held at Erquinham (France) and made a finding that Sidney junior had been killed in action. It did this largely on the evidence of a unit member who said he had been told by another person that he had seen Sidney's body. Sidney’s father wrote to the Army on 6 May 1916: “Word came this morning from the local Postmistress informing me that my son was killed .... on August 7. Will you kindly inform how you arrive at this conclusion?” On 7 August 1916 he wrote:
“Kindly inform me if any further confirming document are to hand from the authorities at the front, re identification disk, his belongings, pay book, will form. Also, when are you able to issue Certificate of Death. I think it is quite time I got more satisfaction.”
He wrote yet again on 23 October 1916, asking for his son's personal effects. No finality was evert reached, and as late as June 1921 the Army wrote that it had still not found any trace of the last resting place of Sidney Norwood.
Sidney's name on his army enlistment document was given as 'Sydney', and it remained that way throughout his army life. His name on the Lone Pine Memorial is also given as Sydney.
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