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Annie Owen & Corrie David

Man who remembers past life as WWI pilot travels to Wales to visit 'his own grave'

A man who claims he remembers being struck down and plummeting to his death in the First World War says he has "visited his grave" in Wales.

Steve Mulligan, 61, from Manchester apparently unlocked his memories during a hypnosis session, and can now "recall a previous life" as a Flight Lieutenant and being shot down while flying over France in 1917.

Steve, born in 1961, insists he can recall several details of his past life as a Welshman, as early as 1903 when he was Sydney Sutcliffe, of Llandudno, son of Abraham "Arthur" Sutcliffe, an entertainer at Llandudno’s Pavilion Theatre.

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He told North Wales Live : "Since my childhood I've always been drawn to Llandudno, even when I came here as a child I knew my way around and my mum used to be amazed at how I knew where to go.

"When we'd be walking round it was like I was having deja vu, like I'd been there before.

"It wasn't until someone suggested doing a past life regression that all of this came spilling out."

In 2021, Steve attended an online session with a hypnotist, Paul Goddard, which triggered his memories as Sydney Sutcliffe, a soldier killed in WWI aged 24. He explained how he can now remember the moments before his aircraft was stuck down above the trenches on the Western Front.

He said: "When I did the hypnosis session with Paul I'd never done anything like it before but I had all these memories that I could see in black and white.

"I remember being in the aircraft and looking down on the ground below and thinking I was glad I wasn't down there.

"I can remember thinking, I'm like a bird."

Steve and his partner Sharon visited Llandudno to retrace his past lif (Steve Mulligan/North Wales Live)

Other memories also came to light, such as Sydney joining the Fusiliers in Wrexham and later joining the Royal Flying Corps. The final memories from Sydney's life are of an aerial reconnaissance flight over enemy lines near Cambrai, France.

Steve remembers looking out at the ground below, then being hit by enemy fire which caused the plane to spiral out of control.

He said: "I can remember that feeling as the aircraft was going down and it was really strange because I had no control of it.

"I could feel that loss of life but there's nothing I could do."

Steve believes he also has memories from his life before fighting in WWI.

He said he has "vivid" memories of being raised in Llandudno and of his family from over 100 years ago.

He explained: "I didn't know anything about Llandudno apart from coming here as a child, until I did the regression.

"I had never heard the name Sydney Sutcliffe, so for me to choose that name out of millions of names and for that to be someone who did live in Llandudno, it's just incredible."

Following the memories being "triggered", Steve and his wife travelled from Manchester to Llandudno in December last year to see if he could "unlock" any further memories.

While walking the streets he said he was able to recall his childhood home where he lived with his parents and three sisters.

Sydney Sutcliffe's name on the cenotaph (Steve Mulligan/North Wales Live)

He said he was also able to find Sydney's name on the Llandudno Cenotaph, where he is listed along with other local soldiers who died in WWI.

Steve claimed he remembered performing on stage at Llandudno’s Pavilion Theatre with his father, who he believes was an entertainer.

He said: "I can remember my father was an entertainer and I can see him doing his act on stage and making the crowd laugh.

"I remember I would help him on stage sometimes, kind of like a Stavros Flatley father-and-son routine."

They then travelled to Llanrhos cemetery, where Sydney's parents Abraham ‘Arthur’ Sutcliffe and Rhoda Sutcliffe are buried.

Research has led Steve to believe Sydney's remains are buried in a war cemetery in France. (Steve Mulligan/North Wales Live)

Steve said: "We had been looking for the headstone in cemetery for a while and couldn't find it.

"We actually started to think we weren't going to find it but then a pheasant flew past, which startled me, and as I looked over that's where it was.

"Seeing Sydney's name on the grave was emotional, and I'm still trying to get my head around it, it's a really weird feeling."

Part of the headstone reads: "Lieu Sydney Sutcliffe RFC, son of the above, killed in action, Oct 2nd, 1917, aged 24 years."

Although Sydney's name is on the headstone alongside his parents, research has led Steve to believe Sydney's remains are buried in a war cemetery in France.

However, Steve said the the visit made him feel more "connected" to Sydney's mother, Rhoda.

He explained: "The strange thing is, his mother died in 1960 and I was born nine months later in 1961.

"So to me that's as if she was waiting to pass so I could be reborn, and that's why I'm here."

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