Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Military History of
2465 Pte William Henry Martin
STANLEY
Researched by his grandson, 4717484 SSGT Graeme W. Edwards JP RAE (Ret)

William Henry Martin STANLEY was born c.August 1891 at Echuca, Victoria and was 24 years & 5 months old when; on 11 January 1916 in Melbourne, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He was a small, stocky man standing 5 feet 4.5 inches (164cm) tall, of dark complexion and having black hair and brown eyes. His mother; Caroline Stanley from Inglewood Victoria was his NOK and his occupation at the time of his enlistment was given as ’Miner’. Four days later William was taken on the strength of B Company, 23 Depot Battalion AIF until he embarked for active service on 31 March 1916.

On 17 May 1916, Pte Stanley disembarked from the troop ship SS City of Edinburgh at Marseilles, France and joined the AIF Base Depot at Staples where he stayed until being posted to the 2nd Tunnelling Company on 10 August 1916. William saw extensive action in the trenches of France and his record shows that he was hospitalised many times due to shellshock and the associated horrors of war. His Record of Service also shows quite a number of disciplinary charges for being out of uniform, AWOL and drunkenness and it is wondered if these offences were also a result of Williams experience in the trenches.

William was posted to 40 Battalion AIF on 22 June 1917 where he continued to spend short periods of time hospitalised and where his conduct record worsened. For his offences, Pte Stanley was subjected to Field Punishment Number 1 whereby for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon for however many days (depending on the severity of the charge); he was tied (normally crucified) to an immoveable object (the wheel of a cannon was a favourite) . . . and it didn’t matter what action was going on at the time, the sentence was still carried out.

(Google Field Punishment sometime to find out how barbaric our discipline was back then).

While undergoing field punishment on 29 November 1917, William was wounded in action by shrapnel to the head and left forearm. The severity of his injuries is not recorded in his Record of Service but as from that day, William was cared for by 9 Field Ambulance. On 10 December 1917 his transfer to 53 General Hospital was made. On 15 December 1917 William was moved from France and taken to 2 East General Hospital in England where he was listed as “dangerously ill”.

On 15 February 1918 Pte William Stanley left England for his return to Australia on the troop ship Llanstephen Castle and disembarked at Melbourne on 16 April 1918. As a result of his war injuries and on medical grounds 2465 Pte W. H. M. Stanley was discharged from the AIF on 22 May 1918. He was awarded the British War Medal and later, the Victory Medal.

Footnote:- As a result of the shrapnel wound he received to the head, William lived the remainder of his life with a metal plate inserted into his skull. He could not settle and was a wanderer, roaming Victoria and only occasionally visiting his wife, Matilda May Stanley. He died in Melbourne on 27 January 1949 at the age of 58. The cause of his death is recorded as; “Died due to war service”.







LEST WE FORGET