De Ruvigny Roll of Honour Vol 1 page 341
N.E.R. Magazine 1915 page 214
Sydney Stoddart was born on the 21st September 1889 at Barnard Castle, Durham. The only son of Edward Stoddart of 3 Brantwood Terrace, Tinsdale Crescent, Bishop Auckland, Durham, Cordwainer, and his wife Margaret, daughter of the late Joseph Brown.
Sydney was educated at Bishop Auckland and became a ticket Collector for the North Eastern Railway based at Crook. He joined the N.E.R. in January 1905.
He volunteered on the outbreak of war and enlisted into the 10th Battalion Durham Light Infantry on the 12th August 1914. He was trained at Newcastle and Aldershot.
Sydney was sent to France on the 19th of May 1915, and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on/about the 29th May 1915. He was killed in action at Ypres on the 20th July 1915.
He was buried in the 43rd Brigade Cemetery there.
Lieutenant John B. Rosher had wrote to his mother:-I know so well what a splendid fellow he was, as he had been in my machine-gun section so long. Always cheery under the most adverse circumstances, and always ready to help in every way possible. He is a great loss to my section, and I feel that his loss is a personal one. We have worked the gun together several times, and I had many opportunities of admiring his coolness and courage.
The North Eastern Railway Magazine for 1915 states that:- "Sergeant S. Stoddart, 10th Durham Light Infantry was killed in action on July 20th, 1915. He was struck by a piece of shrapnel, which penetrated a lung and caused death five hours later, A lieutenant, in writing regarding Sergeant Stoddart's death, extolled his courage under fire, and his splendid behaviour at all times.
10th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry was raised at Newcastle on the 22nd of August 1914 as part of Kitchener's First New Army and joined 43rd Brigade, 14th (Light) Division. They trained at Woking, moved to Aldershot, then to Witley in November 1914 for the winter and returned to Aldershot in February 1915 for final training. They proceeded to France on the 21st of May 1915, landing at Boulogne. They fought in the The Action of Hooge, being the first division to be attacked by flamethrowers. They were in action in The Second Attack on Bellewaarde. In 1916 they were on the Somme seeing action in The Battle of Delville Wood and The Battle of Flers-Courcelette. In 1917 they fought in The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, The First and Third Battle of the Scarpe at Arras, The Battle of Langemark and The First and Second Battle of Passchendaele. On the 12th of February 1918 the 10th DLI was disbanded in France when the army was reorganised.
De Ruvigny Roll of Honour
He is remembered on the North Eastern Railway Memorial at York
