Name
Sidney Edward Hyde
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
25/11/1941
33
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Able Seaman
P/J 108488
Royal Navy
H.M.S. Barham
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL
Panel 48, Column 2.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
NA
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St. Mark’s Church Memorial, Hitchin, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin
Biography
He was given the Service Number P/J 108488 and was on H.M.S. ‘Barham’ at the time of his death.
The battleship H.M.S. ‘Barham’, which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet, was torpedoed off Bardia on the Libyan coast 32 34N 26 24E by the German Submarine U-331 commanded by Lieut Von Tiesenhausen who had managed to penetrate the protective screen. He fired four torpedoes at close range, three of which struck the ‘Barham’. The battleship capsized and blew up in less than five minutes. 862 men were lost and 450 were rescued. The ‘Barham’ had left Alexandria as part of a large naval force the previous day. The release of the torpedoes upset the balance of U-331 and it broke surface then dived to 250 metres out of control. The Commander stabilised the U-Boat, moved it to a safer depth and slipped away.
He has no known grave but is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial to the Missing on Panel 48 Column 2.
He was the son of Sidney and Eva Gertrude Hyde of Hitchin.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Paul Johnson - local historian, ‘Warship Losses in World War II’ by D. Brown, ‘U-Boat Operations in the 2nd World War’ by K. Wynn
