Rank
Pte
Service No.
725078
Unit
109th Btn, 20th Btn
Died
3rd June, 1918
Age 37?
Age 37?
Buried
Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No.2, Somme, France - II D 27
Remembrance:
First World War Book of Remembrance - Page 458
Additional Info
Sidney McGinnis was born 12 August 1888 in Lindsay Ontario, the 2nd youngest of 11 children born to Richard and Jane McGinnis of 10 Water Street, Lindsay ON. By the 1911 Census, older brother Robert had taken over the family farm with his elderly parents living in the home.
After serving with the 45th Regiment for 3 years, Sidney enlisted on 29 December 1915 with the 109th Battalion in Lindsay. He was transferred to the 20th Battalion upon arrival in France. Prior to the war, Sidney was listed as an engineer and was employed by the John Carew Lumber Company.
Sidney had written letters home about his experiences as a stretcher bearer on the front lines. He describes several close calls while doing his duty, having had several wounded soldiers shot while he was carrying them on his back to the aid station. On the 2/3 of June 1918, a raid on a series of trenches known as The Maze, north of Gueudecourt and east of Courcelette, was planned. Reconnaissance patrols were pushing out into enemy territory, and the 20th Battalion war diary notes that “they saw nothing of the enemy but could hear his posts talking”.
Throughout the night before the raid, patrols were cutting slits in the front line parapet and covering them with sandbags to make it easier to exit the lines during the raid. Artillery was noted as “very active” throughout the entire period, while “the patrol worked through the long grass and got in between the enemy posts. Talking could be distinctly heard from two posts and a work party SE of The Maze could be heard at work.” Sidney was wounded by shrapnel in the right side of his abdomen during the raid and died of his wounds on 3 June 1918 at No 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital in Doullens, France.
Sidney McGinnis is buried at Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No 2, France. He was 29 years old.
Attestation and other Documents (pdf, 44 pages - 21.7MB)
