Lest We Forget

Six former Bristol City players lost their lives during the First World War, two during the Second World War and one during the Cyprus Emergency, leaving a lasting legacy of sacrifice beyond the football field.

The Great War brought the heaviest losses. The first former City player traditionally recorded among the war dead was Tommy Ware, although aspects of his story remain under investigation. The accepted account is that Ware re-enlisted after the outbreak of war, joining the Royal Field Artillery following earlier service with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He is said to have been wounded during the Second Battle of Ypres and to have died from his injuries at Poperinghe, Belgium, on 1 May 1915, aged 29. However, recent research has raised questions about whether the military casualty records and grave long associated with Ware do in fact relate to the former Bristol City player. The issue remains the subject of ongoing fact-checking.

On outbreak of war, Tommy re-joined the army serving in the 1st and 8th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) serving as a Lance Corporal. His death is listed as the 5th May 1917 in Egypt. Remembered at the Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery  (D.120). There is conflicting reports that he was killed in Belgium in 1915. This grave is listed as T. Ware Service No. 46806 serving with the Royal Field Artillery. Thomas’s record also states he was awarded the Military Medal.

Ware was a local-born player who was found by Bristol City when he was home on furlough during 1911-12, when he deputised in a few matches for Harry Clay. In 1912-13, having left the Army, he came in when Clay damaged his leg in saving a goal against Blackpool on November 6th and was never absent afterwards. 

The next season he was absent from the earlier matches, but having once got into the team never lost his place. Interestingly, on his discharge from the Army in 1912, Tommy was employed by Fry’s in their huge chocolate factory in Broadmead. 

A year later his death in the war, the Battle of the Somme claimed two more former Bristol City footballers. Jimmy Stevenson, serving with the Highland Light Infantry, was killed on 3 July 1916 during the attack on the Leipzig Salient in the opening stages of the offensive. 

Private Stevenson, Service No. 14093, served with the 15th (Service) Battalion (1st Glasgow), Highland Light Infantry during the First World War. He was killed in action in France on 3 July 1916 while serving on the Western Front. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, the memorial to the missing of the Somme, where his name appears on Pier and Face 15C.

Just weeks later, Allen Foster, a member of the Middlesex Regiment's famous "Football Battalion", died from wounds received during the fighting at Guillemont on 8 August.

The losses continued five days later when Edmund Burton was killed in action on the Somme on 13 August 1916. Former City player Harry Gildea, serving with the Black Watch, was killed on the opening day of the Battle of Arras on 9 April 1917. The club's final First World War casualty was Albert Edwards, who was killed by shellfire on the Western Front on 4 November 1918, only days before the Armistice ended the conflict.

Research has also clarified the position of Ernest Gadsby, whose name has appeared on some recent remembrance lists. Evidence currently available indicates that Gadsby survived the war and should be remembered among those who served rather than among the fallen. His military service record shows he served as a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, suffered gas exposure and trench fever, and was transferred to the Class Z Reserve in February 1919 before later dying in 1963.

Part of the confusion appears to stem from the existence of another wartime casualty, William Ernest Gadsby, who died on 9 October 1918 while serving with the Army Service Corps and is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. However, there is no evidence linking William Ernest Gadsby to professional football, and researchers believe he should not be confused with former Bristol City player Ernest Gadsby.

The Second World War claimed the lives of two more former Bristol City players. Allan Sliman, serving with No. 75 Squadron of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, died on 14 April 1945 after being wounded on a bombing operation during the final weeks of the war.

Sliman, a former Bristol City defender who made 136 league appearances for the club between 1928 and 1932, later served as a flight engineer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. Flying with No. 75 Squadron, he was fatally wounded on his first bombing mission and died in hospital on 14 April 1945, less than a month before VE Day, aged 39. He is buried in Chelmsford Cemetery and is believed to be the only Bristol City player to have been killed on active service during the war.

Sandy Torrance was killed during the Bristol Blitz in April 1941. Serving as a Fire Guard, he and his wife died during a Luftwaffe air raid on Bedminster, making him one of Bristol's civilian wartime casualties.

The club's roll of honour extends beyond the two world wars. Former player Colin Read was killed in Cyprus in 1956 during the Cyprus Emergency.

Together, Ware, Stevenson, Foster, Burton, Gildea, Edwards, Sliman, Torrance and Read represent a poignant chapter in Bristol City's history, their football careers overtaken by conflict and their sacrifices remembered long after the final whistle.

Paul Gainey is soon to launch two new books, one called "The History of Bristol City in 100 Objects" and "Bristol City's 100 Greatest Players".