TIDESWELL, Percy
| Service Number: | 4920 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 November 1915, Enlisted at Casula |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Stoke-On-Trent, England, 19 November 1888 |
| Home Town: | Marrickville, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer in Signalling Branch of Railways |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 September 1918, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4920, 4th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Casula | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4920, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4920, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of England, Sydney | |
| 20 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 56th Infantry Battalion, Transferred from 4th Infantry Battalion at Ferry Post in Egypt. | |
| 10 Jun 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, Transferred from 56th Infantry Battalion via Training Battalions in England. Then returned to France. | |
| 4 Sep 1918: | Involvement Private, 4920, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4920 awm_unit: 5th Australian Machine Gun Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-09-04 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Percy TIDESWELL (Service Number 4920) was born on 19th November 1888 at Stoke-On-Trent England. He worked with the NSW Railways from October 1913 as a labourer in the Signalling Branch. On 26th November 1915 he ienlisted in the AIF at Casula.
At that date he was not married and gave his mother living in Staffordshire as his next of kin. However, before his embarkation from Australia he married Mabel and her home was in Hill Street, Marrickville. Mabel became his next of kin. He was allotted to the 15th Reinforcements to the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Star of England’ at Sydney on 8th March 1916. On his arrival in Egypt he was taken on strength of the 56th Battalion at Ferry Post on 20th April. After further training there he embarked HT ‘Huntsend’ at Alexandria on 19th June for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 29th June. In December he was admitted to the 5th Australian Field Ambulance with trench feet, and then transferred to the 38th Casualty Clearing Station and the 2nd General Hospital at Havre. It was January 1917 before he was fit to re-join his unit.
In April 1917 Tideswell was awarded the Military Medal.
‘At Leuveral on the 2nd April 1917 this man, who is a company runner, during the advance displayed great coolness under very heavy machine gun, rifle and shell fire. By his example he was largely instrumental in keeping a number of men together. On the Company reaching its final objective, Private Tideswell at once reported to his Company Commander and willingly volunteered to carry messages to Battalion Headquarters and to adjoining Companies. On several occasions he just managed to regain the shelter of the ditch, where Company Headquarters had been established as machine gun fire was concentrated upon him. I strongly recommend Private Tideswell for the Military Medal. (Lieutenant-Colonel A.H. Scott. D.S.C.)
In August 1917 he had leave in the UK . In October he was wounded in action by gas. This led to his evacuation to England on the Hospital Ship ‘St Andrew’ and admission to hospitals at Netley and Dartford. In December he had furlough in England and after a series of appointments to Training Battalions returned to France with the 5th Machine Gun Corps on 10th June 1918.
Tideswell was killed in action on 4th September 1918. He was buried, probably where he fell, at map location 1/40000. 62C I 22 d 1 a 10 on that same day. This location was recorded and not destroyed by later fighting so after the War, in 1920, his remains were exhumed and re-interred in the Péronne Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.