Can you help us find Sydney?

Early Life

Sydney William Dennis was born in Balham, Surrey, in 1886, the only son of William Dennis and Elizabeth Broad Jewell. He was baptised at St Mary’s Church, Balham, on 6 June 1886. Sydney’s father, William Dennis, was born about 1853 at Braycott, North Petherwin, Devon. He was the eldest son of Thomas Dennis and Elizabeth Ann “Betsy” Turner and grew up at Week St Mary, Cornwall.

William later moved to London, where he worked as a draper. On 17 September 1878, he married Elizabeth Broad Jewell at Poughill, Cornwall. Elizabeth, born at Poughill about 1854, was the second daughter of William Jewell and Elizabeth Bernez Treathick. By 1881, William and Elizabeth were living at Marylebone in London with their young family. They had seven children.

Sydney’s six sisters were:

• Ethel Beatrice Dennis, born 1879
• Mabel Marian Jewell Dennis, born 1881
• Constance May Dennis, born 1882
• Adeline Bertha Dennis, born 1885
• Hilda Marie Dennis, born about 1889
• Dorothy Jewell Dennis, born about 1890

In 1891, the family was living at Peckham in the Camberwell district of London. Sydney was then about five years old.

William died in November 1903, when Sydney was about seventeen. Rather than enter his father’s trade, Sydney trained as a butcher. Several members of the wider Dennis family worked in that trade, including Sydney’s paternal uncles Charles Claude Dennis and John Turner Dennis.

By 1911, Sydney was working as a butcher’s assistant and living in the household of his uncle John Turner Dennis. Later that year, Sydney left England for Australia. On 26 May 1911, he departed aboard the Otway, bound for Fremantle. Sydney settled at Dwellingup, south of Perth, where he worked as a master butcher until he enlisted for service in the Australian Imperial Force. The local paper recorded that 21 local Dwellingup lads, including Sydney, were given a civic reception to bid them farewell before leaving Australia for the war in Europe.

Before leaving Western Australia, Sydney was among 21 men from the Dwellingup district honoured at a civic farewell. Many of these men subsequently served alongside him in the 32nd Battalion.

The battalion departed South Australia on 18 November 1915, with the men divided between the HMAT A2 Geelong and the HMAT A13 Katuna. Sydney embarked from Adelaide aboard the Geelong. The departure attracted considerable public attention. The Register later reported:

“The 32nd Battalion went away with the determination to uphold the newborn prestige of Australian troops, and they were accorded a farewell which reflected the assurance of South Australians that that resolve would be realized.”
Source: “The 32nd Battalion”, The Register, 16 December 1915, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59988928

Sydney disembarked at Suez on 18 December 1915. Shortly before Christmas, the 32nd Battalion moved to El Ferdan. A month later, the men marched to Ismailia and then continued to the large training camp at Tel el Kebir, where they remained through February and most of March.

1. From Tel el Kebir, the battalion moved to Duntroon Plateau and Ferry Post. The men continued training while also helping to defend the Suez Canal. Sydney was appointed Lance Corporal at Ferry Post on 26 May 1916. The battalion’s final posting in Egypt was at Moascar.

The heat, long marches through the sand, shortage of water and monotonous food left a lasting impression on the men. Private Theodor Pflaum complained in his diary that he was "sick up to the neck of heat and flies” and some of their rations as “dog biscuits and bully beef”.
Source: Australian War Memorial, C2081789, Diary of Theodor Milton Pflaum 1915–16, p. 12.

Theodore Pflaum also recorded the more welcome moments of their time in Egypt, including swimming, receiving mail from home and visiting local sights. During their time there, the battalion was inspected by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.

To France

In mid June, orders arrived for the 32nd Battalion to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. Sydney and the battalion left Alexandria aboard the Transylvania on 17 June 1916 and arrived at Marseilles on 23 June.

From Marseilles, they began a three day train journey north to Steenbecque. Their route took them to a station near Paris, within sight of the Eiffel Tower, and then through Boulogne and Calais, where they caught a glimpse of the English Channel. After leaving the train, they marched to camp at Morbecque, about 30 kilometres from Fleurbaix.

Private Theodor Pflaum recorded the enthusiastic welcome they received along the way:

“The people flocked out all along the line and cheered us as though we had the Kaiser as prisoner on board!!”
Source: Australian War Memorial, C2081791, Diary of Theodor Milton Pflaum, 1916, p. 8.

Private Wesley Choat was equally struck by the contrast between Egypt and France:

“The change of scenery in La Belle France was like healing ointment to our sunbaked faces and dust filled eyes. It seemed a veritable paradise, and it was hard to realise that in this land of seeming peace and picturesque beauty, one of the most fearful wars of all time was raging in the ruthless and devastating manner of ‘Hun’ frightfulness.”
Source: Mitchell Library, W.P. Choat, A Bold Bid for Blighty, 1919, p. 7.

The battalion was sent towards the Fleurbaix area of northern France. This was regarded as a “Nursery Sector”, a supposedly quieter part of the front where inexperienced Allied troops could be introduced to the realities of trench warfare. Training continued, with particular attention given to bayonet fighting, gas helmets and steel helmets.

D Company’s Lieutenant Sam Mills wrote home confidently about their preparations:

On 14 July, the 32nd Battalion moved into the front area. Two days later, Sydney and his comrades entered the trenches in the Bois Grenier sector for the first time, only three weeks after arriving in France. What had been intended as an introduction to the Western Front was about to become the battalion’s first major battle.

Success brought new dangers. Australian artillery observers were unable to confirm how far the troops had advanced and friendly artillery fire caused further casualties. The 32nd Battalion succeeded in taking out a German machine gun during its early advance but was being “seriously enfiladed” from the left flank. By 8.30 PM, the left flank was under heavy bombardment from high explosives and shrapnel. Artillery support was requested and the men were informed that “the trenches were to be held at all costs”. [[Source: AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diary, July 1916, p. 12.]]

Fighting continued throughout the night. The Australians attempted a further advance towards the main German line beyond Trench B, but grenades were running low. Machine gun fire from the German position at Delangre Farm was coming from behind them and the Australians had advanced so far that they were being shelled by both sides.

Bombing parties fought their way along the captured trenches as the Australians tried to hold their position. Sydney’s sister Dorothy later recorded that he was leading a bombing party when he was killed by a shell during the attack. His precise movements and the location of his death were not recorded.

In the early hours of 20 July, the Germans began a counterattack from the Australian left, bombing their way into Trench A. The earlier Australian advance had left the rear Trench E almost empty. The Germans were therefore able to regain it and begin enveloping the men of the 32nd Battalion.

At 5.30 AM, the Germans attacked both flanks in force with bombing parties. With only a few grenades remaining, the Australians were largely reduced to defending themselves with rifles. The 31st Battalion War Diary recorded what followed:

What remained of the 32nd Battalion had finally withdrawn by 7.30 AM on 20 July. The initial roll call revealed the scale of the disaster, with 71 killed, 375 wounded and 219 missing. Sydney was among those who did not return.

The devastation remained visible long after the fighting had ended. When Australia’s official war historian Charles Bean visited the battlefield two and a half years later, he observed bones, torn uniforms and Australian equipment still scattered across the ground. The final impact on the 32nd Battalion was devastating. A total of 225 soldiers were killed or died from wounds sustained at Fromelles, of whom 166 were unidentified. Lieutenant Sam Mills survived the battle. In a letter home, he recalled the courage of the men as they went into the attack:

With about 85 per cent of the 32nd Battalion killed, wounded or taken prisoner, there was enormous confusion in determining what had happened to individual soldiers. For many families, weeks and months passed without definite news. Some of the missing had been killed in the German lines and buried by the Germans, while others had been wounded and taken prisoner.

Sydney was recorded among the missing until information obtained from German authorities confirmed that he had fallen near Fromelles on 19 July 1916. His identity disc had been recovered, but no burial location was recorded.

For some families, answers would not come for generations. Following the discovery of the mass graves at Pheasant Wood in 2008, 250 soldiers were recovered. Through historical research and DNA provided by their descendants, 181 have now been positively identified as of 2026, restoring names to men who had remained missing since Fromelles. Sydney has not yet been positively identified.

After the Battle

In the confusion following the Battle of Fromelles, Sydney was initially reported missing. His mother, Elizabeth, was later informed that he had been killed in action on 19 July 1916 and was granted a military pension following his death.

Elizabeth did not live long after losing her only son. She died on 20 December 1916, only five months after Sydney. His father, William, had died in November 1903, leaving Sydney’s six sisters to continue the search for information about what had happened to their brother.

Sydney’s name appeared on a German death list dated 4 November 1916. His identity disc had been recovered by the Germans and passed through the German 6th Army authorities and the Central Office for Deceased Estates. It was received from Germany and forwarded to Sydney’s next of kin on 11 May 1917.

The recovery of the identity disc confirmed that German troops had found Sydney’s body, but it did not reveal where he had been buried. A German death voucher later provided the clearest official statement about his fate

“The Australian soldier Dennis, S. W. 1252, 32nd Battalion fell in the neighbourhood of Fromelles on 19/7/16.”

Source: Australian War Memorial, Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing File, Sydney William Dennis, 1252, 32nd Battalion

Sydney’s youngest sister, Dorothy Brown, became one of the family’s principal contacts with the Australian military authorities. On 20 February 1920, she wrote from her home at 20 Guildersfield Road, Streatham, asking Base Records for Sydney’s service number and any information held by Graves Registration Headquarters which might help her locate his grave.

Base Records replied on 16 April 1920 that no burial particulars had been received. Sydney therefore continued to be recorded as having no known grave.

Dorothy also completed Sydney’s Roll of Honour Circular. She recorded that he had been killed by a shell while leading a bombing party during the attack and added a deeply personal tribute to her brother: