Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout, Australia and NZ in WWI
 
Today, the sun is shining over the Somme and the wind comes to caress with harmony the fields of poppies, eternal symbol of the Remembrance of all the young men who fought and who fell here and it is the memory of one of these young boys from Australia who gave his life on these fields of flowering poppies that I want to honor on this beautiful day. I want to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2652/B Sydney Léo Greenham who fought in the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on August 18, 1916 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

Sydney Leo Greenham was born in 1893 in Balranald, New South Wales and was the son of Alfred Greenham. Sydney was educated at Convent School, Balranald, New south Wales. Before the outbreak of the war, he worked as a farmer, he was single and lived with his father in Balranald.

Enlisted on August 2, 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria in the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion at the age of 22, he embarked with his unit from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A38 Ulysses on October 27, 1915 and sailed for Egypt where he arrived in Zeitoun, on February 24, 1916 and was transferred to the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion at Serapeum before embarking the following month with his battalion from Alexandria on March 26 for France where he was disembarked on March 31, 1916 in Marseilles then Sydney was sent with his unit to the battlefields of the Somme.

Sydney fought with great bravery in the trenches of the Somme but unfortunately came the hour of the battle of Pozieres during which he met his destiny, on August 18, 1916, during an attack, Sydney was declared missing but one of his comrades, Private number 4191, Angus Penn Elliott who also fought in the 7th Australian Infantry Battalion declared that he saw Sydney lying on the battlefield with a very serious head wound then his body was found and he was declared to have been killed in action, he was 23 years old.

Today, Sydney Léo Greenham rests in peace alongside his comrades and brothers in arms of the Commonwealth and France at Ovillers British Cemetery, Somme.

Sydney, you who answered the call of duty and who came from so far away, today in the land of the Somme, of France, in these flowering fields of poppies you rest in peace, in a country which feels for you a deep respect, a friendly country which shares with Australia a bond that nothing will ever destroy, a friendship which was born in the heart of the trenches between Australian and French soldiers who fought side by side and who fell side by side, for the same cause, all fought in the most beautiful spirit of camaraderie and courage, giving their youth to fight for freedom and for peace, with in the heart, hopes and dreams which for many were shattered as well as the lives of millions of young men who were cut down in the strength of their youth in mud and barbed wire after having fought with admirable bravery just as you did Sydney, in those sacred lands of the Somme, lands in which so much blood was shed and on which so many acts of bravery were shown, young and admirable in courage, you had on your young faces the smiles of a whole generation of courageous men who carried on their shoulders the hopes of the French people who saw in them heroes and light through the darkness of war.More than a hundred years after the end of the war, France, the Somme still feels for you Sydney and for your comrades a very deep respect and a deep love as well as for your country which sent its sons to fight here and who fell for us , to offer us the chance to have a better future. Australia will always have a very big place in our hearts and also a place of honor on these sacred lands which are also yours and in which so many of your comrades rest today in peace under the gaze of our two countries who, hand in hand, walk together through the old battlefields and in the cemeteries to show you our respect to honor your memory with the love you all deserve.we will never forget what you have done for us Sydney and I will always watch over you, you who you stood here to defend peace, freedom and humanity, today it is I who stand with respect in front of you to protect your memory, to watch over your grave and over the graves of all your brothers in arms who gave their today for our tomorrow, you will always have your place in my heart, i will always be present for you and your names, through us and in the light of the future, will live forever, thank you so much sydney , from the bottom of my heart.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them, now, tomorrow, forever.