STEPHENS, Stanley Everard
| Service Number: | 6320 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 October 1915, Gilgandra, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Richmond, Vic., 1890 |
| Home Town: | Darlinghurst, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Double Bay Public School, Hawkesbury Agricultural College |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Bullecourt, France, 11 April 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gilgandra Coo-ee March Gallery, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6320, 13th Infantry Battalion, Gilgandra, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 6320, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 6320, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney |
Help us honour Stanley Everard Stephens's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Harry James and Effie Griffiths STEPHENS, Mildura, Victoria
Stanley had come to Gilgandra to cover the Coo-ee March for the Farmer and Settler newspaper. He liked what he saw so enlisted and marched with the Coo-ees, sending detailed stories back to Sydney. After training in Liverpool he embarked on the Euripides to Plymouth, arriving on October 26, 1916. He arrived in France on January 2, 1917, when the 13th Battalion was in the Somme. He was wounded during an attack at Guedecourt and rejoined the unit after two weeks. On April 11, 1917 at the First Battle of Bullecourt, he was reported missing in action.
That day saw 367 men missing in action, 25 men killed and 118 wounded. A court of enquiry held in October 1917 declared that Stanley was killed in action on April 11, 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial.
Stanley’s mother, Ephie Stephens was the secretary of the 13th Battalion Comfort Fund. His younger brother, Percy (1611) was also in the 13th Battalion; he survived and returned to Australia.
Private S. E. Stephens who served in the naval force that took part in the New Guinea Expedition in 1914, and who left for France last year in an infantry battalion is reported missing since the battle of Lagnicourt on April 11. Previously he was a student at Hawkesbury Agricultural College
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