STANSFIELD, Stanley Robert
| Service Number: | 2950 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Franklin, Tasmania, Australia, 8 June 1896 |
| Home Town: | Franklin, Huon Valley, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 4 September 1916, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2950, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2950, 12th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2950, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne | |
| 4 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2950, 52nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2950 awm_unit: 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-09-04 |
Help us honour Stanley Robert Stansfield's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Stanley Stansfield was one of five sons of James Thomas and Marion Stansfield of Franklin, Tasmania, who served Australia during WW1. One son served in the RAN for the duration of the war and the other four in the AIF. Only Stanley failed to return.
He served with the 52nd Battalion in France, and was killed in action during the heavy fighting which caused so many casualties among the unit on 3-4 September 1916.
During May 1917, the following article appeared in the Hobart Mercury regarding Stan Stansfield’s death,
Sir, I have just read in this morning's ‘Mercury’ Lieut. Maxwell's report: — “On the afternoon of September 4, 1916, five of us were sitting behind the barricade on our left flank. The Germans were shelling that barricade with four guns. We started talking of various things, in order to divert our minds from the act of listening to the shells. A few minutes later a shell dropped in. Two men were killed, and the one next me had his thigh badly fractured, well above the knee. I started to ligature it with a puttee, and looked up at Stansfield. He was sitting in the same place, a bit white, but smiling. I asked, 'How are you?' He replied, 'I'm right, just a bit of a knock in the leg. You fix Pearson up.' Binding Pearson up took some minutes, and then I stepped across to Stansfield. His head had dropped forward, and he was dead.”
‘O mother of a gallant son!
Through tears you may not hide,
Give praise to God, who gave to thee
That boy who smiled and died.
O Hobart! guard with reverent love,
Tasmania! guard with pride,
For ever here, the memory dear,
Of lads who smiled and died.’
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