Sidney was born in Norwich in 1890, the third child of Joshua Henry Holmes an Engineer and
Alice Louise Jay who had married on the 1st March 1885. The couple lived at West Pottergate
Street in Norwich and went on to have five children, Joshua born in 1888, Walter born 1887,
Sidney born 1890, Alice Louisa who was born and died in 1891 the couple had another daughter also called Alice Louisa who was born on 16th November 1892 and was baptised on 2nd December 1892, it must have been a difficult birth because her mother died on the day of her daughters baptism. Sadly Alice Louisa was to follow her mother and died on the 9th December aged three weeks.
By 1901 the family had moved to Leicester, living at 148 Knighton Fields Road East. Joshua would marry again, Laura Jane Sewell also from Norwich and have a second family. Joshua Snr. was working as a Steam Engine Fitter, and eldest son Joshua aged 15, was working as a Shoe Hand Fitter. Walter who was now 13 and Sydney aged 11, were joined by Harry born in 1894, Lydia born 1896 and Frank born in 1898.
On 11th January 1908 while working as a Shoe Hand, Sidney joined the Army. His paperwork shows he was 18 years old and was 5 feet 4 inches tall, he weighed 107 lbs (just over seven and half stones). It was noted that he was underweight but had a good chest and he was considered fit for the army.
Sidney was posted to India on 5th March 1910, from there he was posted to France as part of the Expeditionary Force arriving on 20/9/1914. His medical records state that at the end of May 1915 he was suddenly taken ill with cold shivers followed by a fever, which continued for ten days. As he was so ill, he had to be posted back to England for treatment.
He was admitted to the King George Hospital, in London on 10/7/1915, which was a Military Hospital at the time. It was recorded on 11/8/1915 that he was suddenly seized with acute pain in the abdomen. He died on 24th September of Pleurisy and a Hepatic Abscess and was buried at All Saints Cemetery, Nunhead in London.
The cemetery contains 592 Commonwealth burials from the First World War. The United Kingdom Plot, in Square 89 has 266 graves, there were too many to be marked individually, but the casualties are listed on a screen wall inside the main entrance gate.
