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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Elusive grandad


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Trying , like a lot of folks on here to trace family. 

His name was Walter Alexander Stanley Stanley , born in London , in July 1881, he always said. 

He was in the 1st (res) London regiment, injured and gassed in one of their many battles. 

His uniform said he was a sergeant and was supposed to be a gunner. Married my Gran ( Maria Dent ) in 1917 ,in Bottesford. He was a widower. He died in Bottesford in 1944 .

we don't know who his previous spouse was .

on his wedding cert. it said his father was Francis stanley stanley ( no trace of him) ,he was a master mariner as was Walter , so why did he go into the army ?

That is all we have at the moment , because his ration book, medals and even birth certificate were all thrown away, very helpful .

If you like a mystery please help , my cousin has been looking for 30 years now. 

Thanks , John. 

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I have not come across 1st (res) London regiment

If he fought during ww1 TNA or Ancestry should have a Medal Index Card for him

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There is a family tree, with images here...https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/65665321/person/32141210311/facts

according to that, he first married euphemia Fraser in 1901, she then died in 1917.

 

Dave.

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Dunno if this helps but I did find a Walter Stanley who served initially in the Lancs Fusiliers then in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regt, service no. GS141338.   Perhaps the "Res" was a mis-reading of "Fus"?  It's far from being a compelling match, not least because the OP listed his rank as Sgt but this individual was only a Pte. 

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31 minutes ago, Buffnut453 said:

Dunno if this helps but I did find a Walter Stanley who served initially in the Lancs Fusiliers then in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regt, service no. GS141338.   Perhaps the "Res" was a mis-reading of "Fus"?  It's far from being a compelling match, not least because the OP listed his rank as Sgt but this individual was only a Pte. 

From the ancestry tree, an image showing Walter and Maria dent on their wedding day....may help one of the uniform experts.

4ECA3ED0-EFBF-4EC0-BE09-CAE9E262B953.jpeg

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Well that’s a grainy image but it certainly looks like a fusiliers cap badge and certainly sergeant chevrons, there could be more on that sleeve but it’s very difficult to be sure. If he married in 1917 and he’s wearing uniform on his wedding day then surely the marriage certificate should hold some detail as to his military service, I’ve had a quick snoop through the MiCs but nothing obvious jumps out at present

 

J

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56 minutes ago, jay dubaya said:

Well that’s a grainy image but it certainly looks like a fusiliers cap badge

Concur looks like a R.FUS. Cap badge  to me. 

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There may be confusion here between the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), a regular regiment with no Territorial battalions, and the London Regiment, an all-Territorial regiment whose first four battalions bore the suffix (Royal Fusiliers).

 

The Territorial battalions were all divided into three "lines": a first line, which served abroad, a second line which originally served only at home, and a third line, which produced drafts for the other two. The third-line battalions, originally designated 3/1st etc (and in the Londons' case, sometimes 4/1st etc) were later designated as 1st (Reserve) battalions etc.

 

It is likely that your grandad served with the Londons, was wounded and posted to 1st (Reserve) Battalion from which he was discharged. The reserve battalions of the regular Royal Fusiliers were 5th, 6th and 7th.

 

Ron

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