Pte. Sydney Edwards 4th Btn. Durham Light Infantry My grandfather, Sidney Edwards, (born in 1877) learnt tailoring while he was an orphan and this trade and his self-reliance helped him during WW1 too. He was only 5ft 2 ins tall, but joined the 9th Durham Light Infantry when he enlisted at Leyton, London on 21/7/1916 (his service number on joining was 5956 and his regimental number was 301741)
He was a Private and was posted to France on 5/1/1917. On 27/5/1918 he was gassed and reported missing. While he was lieing in a shell hole, still very badly disabled by the gas attack, a young German soldier appeared over him and was about about to bayonet him when Sidney threw up his arms and shouted "comrade, comrade". So the German took him prisoner instead. Sid was eventually transferred to a POW camp in Germany. On arrival at the camp the new prisoners were all lined up for inspection by the Camp Commandant, sitting on his horse. When the Commandant stopped at Sid he asked him where he was from and what he did. Sid answered he was a Tailor from Leyton. While they were talking Sid noticed a small tear in the Commandants uniform and told the Commandant he could repair it invisibly so it would not be noticed.
Sid became the camp tailor and was soon repairing the all uniforms of the very smart German officers and camp guards, who gave him small favours, plus extra rations which he shared with his hut mates. So he became popular with his colleagues and captors! He also slyly told the Germans he needed pork fat in order to "make their seams waterproof" but he, of course, used this to supplement the meagre prison rations of his hut too. So his early days of self reliance and quick wittedness, learnt as an orphan, in another large authoritarian institutional setting, served him very well again inside the prison camp and helped his survival in spite of his very small size. During his time in the prison camp he secretly made a large tailor made Union Jack by hand. When the armistice was declared he raised the Union Jack over the camp, on German soil!
When he was gassed and reported missing his wife was officially informed he was 'missing believed dead!'; so on his arrival back home, after his release, he was surprised to find his name had been included on the Honour Board, at his local chapel, for local men who had given their life in the service of their country during The Great War! However he was able to present, in person, his tailor made Union Jack 'victory flag', from the camp, to the chapel in Leyton in patriotic commemoration of the victory.
After the Great War he went on to become a Master Tailor living and working in Leyton. My cousins still have his medals and old German made treadle sowing machine.
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