Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Stanley George Watkins  was born on the 24th of January 1897 in Glenelg, Holdfast Bay City, South Australia and he grew up there with his family. His father, Charles Henry Watkins was born in 1856 and died in 1912. Stanley’s mother was Susie Wilson Dale Watkins, and she was born in 1857, and she died in 1909. Stanley was 12 when his mother died and was 15 when his father died. He also had two sisters and a brother. As he wasn’t married, and his parents had died, his nominated next of kin on his Attestation Papers was his sister Mary. Stanley was 18 when he signed up for the war and he was working as a draughtsman.

On the 26th of July 1915 Stanley enlisted for the war, at Adelaide and he started his training shortly after. His rank was a Private, in the 5th Pioneer Battalion. Stanley trained in Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide. 

He embarked from Adelaide on 12/7/16 on the A48 “Seang Bee”,  after 59 days on the ship he arrived in England on 9/9/16.  Watkins was promoted to Acting Corporal on 16th November 1916 and reverted back to Private in July 1917. On 27th September 1917 he was promoted to Orderly Room Corporal. He reverted to ranks on the 30th January 1918 and proceeded overseas to France and was taken on strength to the 10th Battalion 5th February 1918.

On the 28/2/18 his battalion moved to Tournai camp. He fought in Hollebeke on the front line. Unfortunately after only fighting in the war for a month on the 6/3/18 he got shot in the back during a night raid. The conditions going into this raid were favourable to the enemy as the Battalion was in the act of relieving the 15th battalion A.I.F. The conditions of the night were very dark, and the raid occurred at 9:40pm. This enemy raid resulted in the enemy successfully overcoming and they took prisoners. One officer was killed, and 3 other ranks were killed, and another officer was wounded, and 15 other ranks were also wounded. Stanley was one of the soldiers that was wounded in this raid. He was rushed back to England with potentially a life threatening gun shot wound to his back which penetrated his chest. There was an operation that was performed, but his disability was permanent and he could no longer fight in the war. He was admitted to the 2nd Casualty Station, France on 7/3/18 and then sent to the 53rd General Hospital in Boulogne. Then he was transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford England. On 13/4/18 he was removed from the seriously ill list. Stanley returned home back to Adelaide, leaving England 23rd July 1918.

He reached Australia 4th September 1918 and was discharged fomr the AIF on 6th December 1918. Stanley returned home, in Adelaide and 10 years after the war ended, he died suddenly from Heart failure at the age of 30 in North Adelaide, South Australia on the 9th on September 1928  

Bibliography

Adfa.edu.au. (2016). Search. [online] Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search.

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Australian War Memorial (2016). Advanced Search | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search.

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www.cwgc.org. (n.d.). Find War Dead | CWGC. [online] Available at: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/.

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National Archives Of Australia (2015). Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia. [online] Naa.gov.au. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx.

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www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au. (n.d.). Advanced keyword search — State Library of South Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/search/X.

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Australian War Memorial (2016). Advanced Search | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search.

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Stanley was the son of Charles Henry WATKINS & Susie Wilson DALE and was born on the 24th of January 1897 at Millers Corner, Glenelg, SA.

His parents were married on the 23rd of April 1878 in the Wesleyan Church, North Adelaide, SA.

His father was the son of William WATKINS & Esther WOOD and was born on the 13th of September 1856 in North Adelaide, SA.
His mother was the daughter of Matthew Mason DALE & Mary WILSON and was born on the 7th of August 1857 in Salisbury, SA.

Stanley was youngest child born into this family of 10 children.

His father was a general dealer and owned a Piano and furniture workshop at 42 Jetty Road Glenelg, on the corner of Moseley Street.

The family first lived in Byron Street, Glenelg but then moved next to the workshop in Moseley Street and named their home “Llongborth”.

Stanley went to school at the Glenelg Public School and then when he was 12 years old his mother died on the 14th of February 1909 and they buried her in the Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery; Plot 323 with Stanley’s infant siblings.

In 1911 Stanley joined the 75th Battalion Cadets (Glenelg) and then sadly, the following year his father died on the 7th of April 1912 and they buried him in the Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery; Plot 323, with their mother.

Stanley remained in the family home with his sisters, Winifred, Mary & Nellie and when he left school he became a draftsman.

His brother Leslie enlisted into the AIF on the 11th of September 1914 and was allotted the service number 2665 and posted to the 1st Depot Unit of Supply.
Leslie embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT Berrima on the 19th of December 1914 and served at Gallipoli before suffering from Rheumatism and Appendicitis and embarked for Australia on the 29th of July 1915.

Just 3 days before Leslie embarked, aged 18, Stanley enlisted into the AIF on the 26th of July 1915 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number 2211 posted to A Group, 5th Pioneer Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his sister Mary, of Moseley Street, Glenelg, as his next of kin and Winifred gave her consent for him to enlist as he was under age.

Stanley embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Seang Bee on the 12th of July 1916 and served in England for a year before proceeding to France.
He was only in France for 4 weeks when he suffered a penetrating Gun Shot Wound to his back, which entered his chest.

He was placed on the seriously ill list and evacuated to England before recovering enough to embark for Australia on the 23rd of July on board the Hospital Ship Karoola and embarked for Australia.
Stanley disembarked in Melbourne on the 4th of September 1918 and entrained to Adelaide the following day.
On arrival in Adelaide he was admitted into the 15th Australian General Hospital in Torrens Park where he remained for a further 2 and ½ months.

Stanley was discharged, medically unfit, from the AIF on the 6th of December 1918.

Stanley gained employment in Sydney with the Australian Commonwealth Shipping Board for several years.
Then in 1926 he gained employment as a clerk with the Expropriation Board and was engaged in Rabaul and after completing two years there he contracted Malaria and returned to South Australia for 3 months furlough in mid 1928.

Whilst back in South Australia e stayed with his sister and brother in-law Nellie and Thomas BUTTON at 46 Ward Street, Glenelg.

On Saturday the 8th of September, Stanley, Nellie and Thomas went to the Adelaide Show at 2:30pm and returned home at 5pm.
Thomas had not been well ever since the war and he didn’t complain that he felt ill, instead they ate their evening meal together and Thomas went to bed at 9:30pm.
At 3am Thomas and Nellie heard a noise in the house and they found Stanley in the dining room gasping for air so Nellie phoned the doctor immediately.
The doctor did everything he could to save Stanley by performing artificial restoration but after just a few minutes Stanley died.

Stanley died from heart failure on the 9th of September 1928 at his sister’s residence (Mrs Nellie BUTTON), 46 Ward Street, North Adelaide and was buried the following day in the Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery.

Military

At the age of 18, Stanley enlisted into the AIF on the 26th of July 1915 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number 2211 posted to A Group, 5th Pioneer Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his sister Mary, of Moseley Street, Glenelg, as his next of kin and Winifred gave her consent for him to enlist as he was under age.

Stanley embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Seang Bee on the 12th of July 1916 at 2:30pm and they reached Fremantle at 3:30pm on the 18th.
They sailed for Cape Town 2 days later and reached Cape Town on the 10th of August and then 2 days later they continued their voyage, reaching Porto Grande, St Vincent Island on the 28th.
Two days was spent here before they sailed for Devonport, England, which they reached on the 9th of September, disembarked and entrained to Tidworth Barracks in Perham Downs.

Stanley trained here in the Pioneer Training Battalion and on the 16th of November he was promoted to Acting Corporal. He spent Christmas 1916 and continued training before he was posted to the 3rd Training Battalion, as part of the 10th Battalion, on the 11th of July 1917.
Two weeks later the 3rd Training Battalion moved to Durrington and then on the 27th of September Stanley was promoted to Orderly Room Corporal to complete the establishment.

He was then posted to the 2nd Training Battalion in Sutton Veny on the 7th of November and spent Christmas 1917 here.
Stanley then reverted back to the ranks and on the 30th of January 1918 he proceeded overseas to France and marched into the AIBD (Australian Infantry Base Depot) in Le Havre.

Six days later he was transferred to the 10th Battalion and taken on strength with them at Aldershot Camp, near Bailleul.
They spent the next 3 weeks here in training before marching to Tournai Camp, in the Hollebeke sector, on the 28th of February.

On the night of the 1st of March they relieved the 13th Battalion in the front line where they were engaged in night raids on the enemy and patrols.
Stanley had only been in the front line for 6 days when he participated in one of the patrols on the 6th of March.
Unfortunately on this night patrol Stanley suffered a penetrating Gun Shot Wound to his back, which entered his chest.

He was admitted into the 1st Australian Field Ambulance and then transferred to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station at Outtersteene.
Stanley then suffered from Pericarditis and was placed on the dangerously ill list. The Pericarditis did not clear up until the 20th of March, but then he suffered with a persistent cough, so on the 21st of March he was transferred by Ambulance Train to the 53rd General Hospital in Boulogne.
Two days later he was operated on and they removed a bullet from an abscess in his chest and lung and inserted a chest drain.

With blood still coming from his chest drain and he had developed Empyema and he was evacuated to England on the 12th of April on board HS Brighton and admitted into the Barrow Red Cross Hospital, St Leonards-on-the-Sea and then the following day he was removed from the seriously ill list.

Stanley spent the next 2 and ½ months here before he was finally well enough to be discharged to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford, however he still had a chest drain in place.
The following week his chest drain was removed and he was granted 3 days leave before reporting back to the hospital.

On the 23rd of July he was discharged to the Hospital Ship Karoola and embarked for Australia.
Stanley disembarked in Melbourne on the 4th of September 1918 and entrained to Adelaide the following day.
On arrival in Adelaide he was admitted into the 15th Australian General Hospital in Torrens Park where he remained for a further 2 and ½ months.

Stanley was discharged, medically unfit, from the AIF on the 6th of December 1918 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.