Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sydney was born on 22nd April, 1885 in Third Creek, Norton Summit near Ashton, South Australia - he was part of a large family born after his parents arrival in  S.A.

His parents were William LOVIBOND and Emily ROSWELL who had married in December 1884 in Taunton Somerset where his Father originated.

They had arrived in South Australia as Government Assisted Immigrants on 20th February, 1885 on the ship Matilda Atheling

Sydney embarked from Adelaide with the 32nd Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements (AIF)

He was Killed in Action on 21st June, 1918 & buried in Villers Bretonneux Military Cemetery & also commemorated at the Australian War Memorial

He was awarded the British War Medal & the Victory Medal.

                         "We will remember him"

From François Berthout

Cpl 2066 Sydney Gordon Lovibond
32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division

 
In the peaceful cemeteries of the Somme, silent and serene white cities, rest in peace between the rows of their graves and the poppies, a whole generation of young men who, here, for their country and for France, fought and gave their lives so that we can have a tomorrow. Gone but not forgotten, they rest in peace next to each other still standing behind their young smiling faces and walk in silence, united in the comradeship in which they lived and fell for justice and freedom and will never be forgotten,we will always take the greatest care of their memories to keep them alive, so that the flame of remembrance under which they rest in peace never ceases to shine.
Today, it is with the highest respect, with love and gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today, his life, his all for us.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Corporal number 2066 Sydney Gordon Lovibond who fought in the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on June 21, 1918 at the age of 33 on the Somme front.

Sydney Gordon Lovibond was born on April 22, 1885 in Third Creek, Norton Summit near Ashton, South Australia, and was the son of William Lovibond and Emily Lovibond (née Roswell), who married in December 1864 in Taunton, Sommerset, England, and immigrated to South Australia on February 20, 1865 on board Matilda Atheling.Sydney was educated at Grassy Flat Public School, Norton,then at the Norton Summit Public School and after graduation he worked as a market gardener and had two sisters,Edith Emily and Ella Louisa and six brothers,Herbert William, Ernest Wilson, Edgar Taunton, Wilfred Augustus, Frank Lavington and Norman Wilkinson Lovibond.

Sydney enlisted on October 25, 1915 at Adelaide, South Australia, as Private in the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement, 8th Brigade, which was raised at Mitcham, on the outskirts of Adelaide on August 9, 1915. After an eight month training period, Sydney embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A28 Miltiades on February 7, 1916 and sailed for Egypt and was disembarked on March 11, 1916 at Suez where the 8th Brigade joined the newly raised 5th Australian Division.

One month later, on April 1, 1916, Sydney proceeded to join the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion and was taken on strength the same day at Duntroon Plateau, Egypt. Two months later, on June 17, 1916, he joined the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) and embarked with his battalion from Alexandria on board Transylvania then proceeded overseas for France and was disembarked in Marseilles on June 23.

A month later, on July 16, 1916, Sydney and the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion entered the trenches of northern France and experienced their first major engagement during the Battle of Fromelles on July 19.The attack was a disastrous introduction to battle for the 32nd ,it suffered 718 casualties, almost 75 per cent of the battalion's total strength, but closer to 90 per cent of its actual fighting strength.

After Fromelles, Sydney was sent to Le Transloy, Pas-De-Calais, in a relatively calm sector of the front but faced a terrible winter and on December 2, 1916, he was evacuated to the 5th Australian Field Ambulance suffering from trenches feet and then the next day, on December 3, was sent to the 38th Casualty Clearing Station then he was admitted to the 22nd General Hospital in Camiers, Pas-De-Calais, on December 4.
A little over a week later, on December 13, 1916, Sydney was admitted to the 6th Convalescent Depot in Camiers and then to the 5th Convalescent Depot in Cayeaux on December 16.After a period of rest, he was sent to the 5th Divisional Base Depot in Etaples and joined the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion on January 17, 1917 in the Somme, at Montauban, near Fricourt and was appointed Lance Corporal the following month, on February 24 at B Camp,Trones Wood,Montauban.

A month later, on March 28, 1917, Sydney was detached from his unit to take training courses and on July 22, 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Corporal and the following month, on August 4, he was granted a leave in England then in Paris on January 15, 1918 then joined his battalion in Devres, near Boulogne on January 23.

In February 1918, Sydney fought courageously near Warneton then in Messines and at the end of March, was sent with his battalion to the Somme front near Doullens. At the end of April, he participated in the defense of the Somme canal in Vaux-Sur-Somme but unfortunately, two months later, on June 21, 1918, he met his fate and was killed in action near Corbie, Somme, he was 33 years old.

Today, Corporal Sydney Gordon Lovibond rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Villers-Bretonneux Military cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "For right and justice he fought and died and now he rests in peace".

Sydney, you who were young, full of life and determination, in the trenches and the battlefields of the Somme, you fought with bravery, served alongside your comrades with honor and for your country, for Australia, my adopted country and for France, you gave your life and for everything you did, for us, for the world, for the freedom and the peace in which we live thanks to you,I would like to say to you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you and express to you my gratitude, my respect.Young and brave, more than a hundred years ago, they left their fields, their farms, the warmth of their home and the love of their loved ones to answer with courage to the call of duty and side by side, together, they gathered and wore the uniform with pride, honor and loyalty to fight in the name of justice, freedom and peace, just causes which united these men in brotherhood and mateship.Side by side they embarked and sailed for France, bruised by the weight and violence of the war, for a country they did not know but which they loved deeply and for which they fought with perseverance and conviction.In united ranks, animated by the deep desire to do their duty and to do their part in this great war, they marched singing alongside their brothers in arms, united behind their officers who guided them bravely through the towns and the poppy fields of the Somme.Through red waves undulating in the wind, they walked towards their fates and towards the trenches which soon turned into a quagmire of blood and mud, into fields of death which were no more than shell holes and suffering in which lived and died every day thousands of young men under the shouting metal of shells and the murderous fire of the machine guns who mowed down in successive waves, a whole generation of heroes, exceptional men who fell in the mud and barbed wire,young men whose lives were taken too early and who had as only youth, the fury and brutality of war, in this hell on earth, together they fought with the greatest bravery and under fire, in sufferings, through tears and fears, they held their lines with determination without ever retreating, they found in each of them, in each other, the strength and courage to stand and fight, the strength and determination to move forward through hurricanes of bullets and fire. They stood their ground because they knew that despite the horrors and the pains, they were fighting the good fight, they gave their heart and their energy in every battle to put an end to all the wars and that on their courage and their actions depended peace and the future of humanity. Together they lived, they were men, friends, fathers and sons, uncles and nephews who, fearlessly, went over the top to face death on no man's land, they charged with courage under enemy fire in landscapes of apocalypses but guided by the light of the courage of the men who were by their side and together, through the poppies, they fell and shed their blood with on their faces and in their eyes,the smile and the pride of having done what was right alongside exceptional men with whom they gave their lives, in the camaraderie in which, more than a hundred years later, still unite them behind the shadows of their white graves.Forever young, they rest today in the peace for which they fought and for which they gave their lives and in our hearts, on these soils of France, on the soils of a friendly country,they will never cease to live.I would always watch over them by carrying above the rows of their graves the eternal flame of their memory and on my heart, the Poppy of Remembrance.for them, I would give my life so that theirs are never forgotten and will always be entirely devoted to them, they are, in my heart, and will be forever, my heroes, my boys of the Somme.Thank you so much Sydney, for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.