Sidney served in Malta and France where he was wounded in action in 1915. After the war ended, he joined the RFC – late the RAF – as a motor transport fitter (service no. 120005). During the war (1913) he married Christina Oatway whilst on leave and they went on to have 5 children between  1914 and 1931. Sadly, the family is most remembered for the fact their daughter Christina was murdered by her lover in 1941. John Ernest Smith was hanged by the famous hangman Albert Pierrepoint at Wandsworth Prison barely one month after the incident.