Selected Biographies

Sycamore, Maurice Edward – Born: Carlton, Nottinghamshire in 1897.  Parents: Maurice Sycamore of Long Melford, Suffolk (Cycle Maker) and Annie [née Bird].  Home: Manor Road, Carlton, Nottinghamshire (1911), 17 Kilbourn Street, Nottingham (1921), 14^A Saint Austins Drive, Carlton [1931[1]], 91 Coronation Walk, Gelding, Nottinghamshire [1968].  Occupation: Assistant in his father’s Cycle Shop (1911), Motor Mechanic (1921) Owner of Sycamore & Sons, Motor Engineers [1940].[2]  Married: Edith Sansom in 1920.  Service Record: Maurice was conscripted as Pte. M2/177770 with Mechanised Transport Section of the Army Service Corps.[3]  Died: Gelding, Nottinghamshire on 9.6.1968.[4]

Sycamore, Thomas Henry – Born: Netherfield, Nottinghamshire in 1898.  Parents: Walter Sycamore of Long Melford, Suffolk (locomotive Engine Driver) and Harriet [née Beeton].  Family Connections: Cousin of William John Sycamore [b1902].  Home: 1 Pearson Street, Carlton, Nottinghamshire (1901 to 1911).  Occupation: Engine Cleaner [1917].  Service Record: Thomas was conscripted on 3.5.1917 as Pte.85476 with 2/8^th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters [Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment].  He was posted to France and wounded in action by an enemy gas shell on 12.10.1917.  Following his recovery, he was returned to the Western Front as Pte.204387, joining 2/6^th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters as part of 178^th Brigade, 59^th (2^nd North Midland) Division.[5]  Died: Thomas was reported missing presumed killed in action on 21.3.1918 either during a gruelling enemy bombardment or subsequent attack on the battalion’s front line at the railway embankment at Écoust-Saint-Mein.  The assault heralded the start of the Battle of St Quentin, one of the opening phases of Operation Michael the codename for the German Spring Offensive.  The losses inflicted on Sycamore’s unit were of such magnitude that it was disbanded only months later.[6]  Private Sycamore is commemorated on the Arras Memorial [bay 7], Pas de Calais, France and the Roll of Honour in St Georges Church at Netherfield in Nottinghamshire.[7]

Sycamore, William John – Born: Tooting, Landon on 25.5.1902.[8]  Parents: Emmanuel Sycamore of Long Melford, Suffolk (Caretaker) and Fanny [née Worby].  Family Connections: Cousin of Thomas Henry Sycamore [b1898].  Home: 42 Ashenden Road, Clapton Park, Hackney, London (1911 to 1921), 28 Sewardstone Road, Chingford, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Engineer Improver for B.J. Hall & Co (1921), Timber Porter (1939).  Married: Violet Selby in 1903.  Service Record: William enlisted in 1923 as Gnr.1426278 with the Royal Artillery Territorials, receiving his discharge in 1935.[9]  Died: Waltham Forest, Essex in 1966.

Related Biography

Thory, Albert Edward – Born: Warboys, Huntingdonshire on 17.4.1898.[10]  Parents: Albert Thory (Farmer) and Emma [née Hodson].  Home: The White Lion, The Cross, Warboys, Huntingdonshire (1901), Mill End Farm, Warboys (1911), Biggin Lane, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (1939), Springfields, Stilton, Cambridgeshire [1967].  Occupation: Farmer (1939).  Married: Evelyn Sycamore in 1937.  Service Record: Albert enlisted on 29.9.1915 as Aircraft Mechanic N^o.9183 with the Royal Flying Corps, being posted to N^o.13 Wing Headquarters in France from 7.3.1916 to 2.1.1919.  He was transferred to the Royal Air Force on 1.4.1918.[11]  During the Second World War he acted as a Special Police Constable.[12]  Died: Stilton, Cambridgeshire on 5.6.1967.[13]

Notes – [1] Electoral Roll.  [2] Nottingham Evening Post 11.6.1940.  [3] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [4] National Probate Calendar.  [5] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [6] For details of the conditions and fighting on the day Sycamore lost his life see the Battalion War Diary [WO 95/3025/4], for details of the wider battle see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Michael.  [7] Commonwealth War Graves Commission and South Notts Echo 13.12.1919.  [8] 1939 Register.  [9] Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942.  [10] 1939 Register.  [11] Air Member for Personnel and predecessors: Airmen’s Records [AIR 79/118].  [12] 1939 Register.  [13] National Probate Calendar.