Beisley, Sidney

566 Private Sidney Beisley - 28th Battalion AIF & 3254 9th Light Horse Regiment

Sidney Beisley was born on the 21st December 1892 in Fremantle WA to Joshua and Caroline Beisley. He was one of fourteen siblings.

The family lived at 14 Holland Street East Fremantle (later renumbered to 11 Holland)

On the 10th March 1915 Sidney enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was passed as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 6 & 1/2 inches tall;

Weight - 136lbs;

Chest Measurement - 36-38 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Grey;

Hair - Brown.

After his successful enlistment Sidney was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to "C" Company of the 28th Battalion AIF. However after beginning to train with his new unit Sidney did not embark with them in June 1915 when they sailed from Fremantle Harbour and he was listed as having deserted.

No reason can be found for Sidney having left camp while training with the 28th Battalion. However he enlisted again, this time under the name of Thomas Beisley.

Sidney/Thomas enlisted in Fremantle on the 7th August 1916 and was again found to be fit for enlistment. He was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to No.61 Training Depot. He was taken through the basics of infantry work at this camp but Sidney requested a transfer t the Light Horse. After passing his riding tests, he was transferred into the 6th Depot Squadron.

Sidney spent six months at this training squadron until the 22nd February 1917 when he was transferred into the 26th Reinforcements to the 9th Light Horse Regiment. The 9th Light Horse Regiment was nominally a South Australian unit but they did take reinforcement groups from other states.

On the 26th February 1917 Sidney and his group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship Morea. The ship then set sail got India and when it arrived at Bombay the troopers were disembarked and sent aboard another ship called the Mashobra which took them the rest of the way to Egypt.

On the 4th April 1917 the men were disembarked at Suez and were sent to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment. On the 18th April Sidney was sent to the 14th Australian General Hospital at Abbassia with hip trouble. On the 1st May he was discharged and sent to a convalescent camp where he remained till the 30th May 1917.

Sidney was then returned to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment. On the 22nd June 1917 he then joined the 9th Light Horse Regiment.

He did not remain with the unit long as on the 1st July 1917 he was sent to hospital with deafness. He was sent to the 24th Stationary Hospital and then the 14th Australian General Hospital. He remained here till the 27th October 1917 and would be sent back to Australia.

On the 12th November 1917 Sidney boarded the transport ship HMAT Wiltshire and sailed back home to Australia, disembarking in Melbourne on the 17th December 1917. He then made his way home to Fremantle.

Sidney was discharged from the AIF on the 16th January 1918. After his return home to Holland Street he resumed work at Fremantle wharf as a Lumper.

On the 4th September 1920 he married Ellen Miller and a son Sidney was born in 1921, a daughter Ellen in 1923, and another daughter Grace in 1927.

The family then moved to 5 Edmund Street East Fremantle and lived there until 1949, when they did not move house but their property was renamed to 5 Chalmers street.

Chalmers Street was originally named Edmund Street which ran from Plympton (East Fremantle) all the way south to Lefroy Rd, Beaconsfield. The section north of Marmion Street is now Hubble Street. The section between Marmion and Knutsford Street changed names in c1949 to Chalmers Street. 

Sidney died on the 19th September 1963 at sea between Broome and Port Headland WA aboard the MV Koolama. His body was brought back and was cremated at Fremantle cemetery.