"What price Sidney Street?"

[GRANVILLE]

This is a line from a book I'm currently reading - 'The Masterpiece Library of Short Stories' - The War. Its a collection of short stories, seemingly based on actual events rather than a work of pure fiction. One of the stories concerns the fabled account of the Bowmen of Mons - I'll leave you to decide if this is based on anything or is pure fiction. My attention however was drawn to the reference to Sidney Street, The piece concerned reads as follows: There was no hope at all. They shook hands, some of them. One man improvised a new version of the battle-song, "Good-bye, good-bye to Tipperary," ending with "And we shan't get there." And they went on firing steadily. The officers pointed out that such an opportunity for high-class, fancy shooting might never occur again; the Germans dropped line after line; the Tipperary humourist asked, "What price Sidney Street?" And the few machine guns did their best.... 

 

I wondered if anyone can put this comment into perspective as the book doesn't. I'm curious because we have relatives who live on a Sidney Street and have often wondered where it derives its name from.

David

 

Edited 15 July , 2020 by GRANVILLE
misspell

[J T Gray]

I would assume it's a reference to this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sidney_Street

 

Adrian

 

[GRANVILLE]

I should really have considered this for myself. Thanks for the nudge.

David

[rolt968]

Interesting. Was the "Tipperary humorist" referring to being in a last stand or the chance for good shooting?

[Black Maria]

During the fighting in 1914 around the Armentieres area some Germans were hold up in a cottage and after several attempts to storm it, the British

troops set it on fire and shot the Germans as they tried to leave , it was nicknamed by them 'Sidney Street cottage '. 

[phil andrade]

Adrian must be right, surely ?

 

All I can do is opine here,  but the Sidney Street episode was a pretty notorious affair that brought a real shooting war into the streets of London, with Winston Churchill, the Home Secretary, making a personal intervention that aroused much comment and a degree of criticism.

 

If British Bobbies had to engage at shooting at “ foreigners” in the East End of London, then I can appreciate that the folklore of those  times - influenced as it was by the appeal of the music hall - would have inspired British Tommies to refer to it as they shot Germans in Belgium and France in August 1914.

 

Phil

[Guest]

Hi Phil- 2 comments on Sidney Street.

  1) At least at night, Metropolitan Police officers were permitted to carry pistols up until 1918.

2) The pictures of Sidney Street suggest that most,if not all of the shooting, was done by a contingent of the Scots Guards

     The situation in London was much the same as now- there were crimes involving firearms quite often in London-the "good old days" stuff is folk nonsense. The main change seems to have been that nowadays, the army is rarely called out openly but back then "aiding the civil power" was a lot more common

    Also remember that the purchase of firearms was a lot easier. A local casualty, Captain Loscombe Law Stable, 2RWF, KIA September 1914, carried a Colt .45-lost during the retreat southwards.-he asked his father to pop along to a gunsmiths in Piccadilly and buy him another.

[FROGSMILE]

On 15/07/2020 at 12:15, GRANVILLE said:

I should really have considered this for myself. Thanks for the nudge.

David

You might find this article in connection with the Angel of Mons of interest: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/irishman-who-was-angel-of-mons-1.1950837%3fmode=amp

It’s written by a journalist and there’s a bit of hyperbole, as well as confusion about ranks ( the man concerned was a QMS rather than commissioned QM), but generally it’s okay.

Edited 16 July , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[Black Maria]

2 hours ago, phil andrade said:

Adrian must be right, surely ?

 

 

 

 

Agreed , my post was just another example of how the siege was still fresh in the memory of many of the soldiers fighting in 1914 .