WW1 Casualties and Memorials
This page within the ‘People’ section of the website includes information and biographies on people with a connection to the local area who served in World War 1.
Note: a Cross (♰) against an entry indicates that the individual is commemorated on the Stansted War Memorial.
Bennett, William Wilfred
Private William Wilfred Bennett,1st Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) was born in Stansted. He likely lived in Ash cum Ridley before moving to Meopham, as he is commemorated on War Memorials in both those villages. He died on 4th April 1915, aged 26 and is buried at Tuileries British Cemetery, Zillebeke, Ypres, Belgium.
Betts, Alfred Thomas ♰
Alfred Betts was born in 1887 and, from 1915, served in the Royal Army Service Corps, one of the many soldiers who did sterling work keeping things moving behind the scenes. He did not serve overseas and in 1917, died of pulmonary tuberculosis in London.
Blackman, Henry George ♰
George Blackman was a gardener in Stansted when he rejoined the Grenadier Guards and went to France. He was injured in 1914 before being killed in action in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme, aged 33. He had a wife and two children.
Bowyer, Frederick Charles ♰
Frederick Bowyer was born and brought up in Fairseat as part of a family of nine children. He was a father and husband when he died of illness in Mesopotamia in 1917. He was a driver supporting the Indian Army in its action against the Turks and is buried in Baghdad.
Brown, Lionel Vernon ♰
As a member of the British Expeditionary Force, Lionel Brown had the misfortune in October 1914 of being among the first Allied troops to die in WW1. His family, including his younger brother Victor, who was also to die during the war, lived at Linden Wood Villas on the Gravesend Road.
Brown, Victor Randolph ♰
Victor Brown had been a professional golfer and enlisted just 5 months after his older brother Lionel was killed at the beginning of WW1. He was a driver and succumbed to tuberculosis in 1916 before he was posted abroad. His headstone is in St Mary’s churchyard.
Burnett, Ernest John ♰
Ernest Burnett had already served in the military and re-enlisted in 1915 whilst living at the Back Horse Public House. He was a lifetime resident of Stansted and was killed in action aged 35 at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Capon, Archibald Victor
Private Archibald Victor Capon, 1st Battalion, The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Born in Stansted and baptised at St Mary’s Church, he lived his early life at Court Lodge Cottages before moving to Dorking. He died aged only 17 on 15th July 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France and on the Dorking, Surrey civic war memorial.
Fremlin, Albion Thomas
Private Albion Thomas Fremlin,1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Albion lived with his parents at Parsons (now Parsonage) Farm, Stansted, until he was eleven, when the family moved to Ash. Killed on 23rd April 1917, aged 37, he is buried in the Arras Road Cemetery, Roclincourt, Pas de Calais, France, and is commemorated on the headstone of his parents’ grave at St. Martin’s Churchyard, Ryarsh, Kent.
Goodman, Gilbert Anthony ♰
Lt Gilbert Goodman served as an Army Officer on the Western Front and in the Royal Flying Corps. He died aged 23 in an air battle in Italy at the very end of the war on 28th October, 1918. Gilbert’s uncle, Frederick Everett, lived at Evergreen Cottage in Fairseat for some time around 1911. Gilbert’s final resting place is in the Tezze British Cemetery, north of Venice in the Province of Treviso.
Gutsell, Edward Thomas
Private Edward Thomas Gutsell, 6th (Service) Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), died on 17th July 1917, aged 21. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in Faubourg-d’Amiens. His parents lived at Moreflints, Court Lodge.
Johnson, James Frederick ♰
James Johnson came from Macclesfield, where he had been a cotton weaver at the tender age of 13. He died at Ypres in 1916, leaving a wife, Daisy, and a 4-week-old daughter living at Brattons Cottages, Stansted. Tragically, 10 years later, Daisy herself was killed in a motor accident on Wrotham Hill.
Kemball, Arnold Henry ♰
Arnold Kemball was born in 1861 in India into a military family and, as a young man, lived in Fairseat House. He retired from the army in 1910 and emigrated to Kaslo in British Columbia. He re-enlisted in 1914 and was killed in action at Vimy Ridge, France, on 1st March 1917, aged 56. He was married and had two daughters.
Kirton, Alexander Mann ♰
Alexander Mann died in 1916 when a live grenade exploded during a training class. His aunt, Elizabeth Bailey Mann, lived in Stansted, and in the 1911 Census she was listed as the occupant of one of the two Hillside Cottages, Stone Rocks, Stansted (now Kit’s House).
Martin, John Alfred ♰
Alf Martin lived in Fairseat Lodge Cottage before emigrating to Western Australia in 1911. He returned to Europe as part of the Australian Imperial Force before meeting his death in France in 1918. Additional research on his life in Cuballing, Australia, has been provided by Polly Falconer and is included in this tribute.
Pitt, James Maxwell ♰
James Pitt was among the first British soldiers to set foot in France after the outbreak of war, and he was killed in action on 13th October 1914, aged 26. He was unmarried. Less than two years later, his older brother William was also killed in action. His parents lived at Fairseat House (after the Kemballs had moved away).
Pitt, William Neville ♰
William Pitt served in the Boer War and retired from the Army in 1910 to pursue a career in the Church. He re-enlisted and was killed in action near Lille, France, on 20th August 1916, aged 35. He was married and had two sons. His younger brother James had died earlier in the war, and his parents lived at Fairseat House.
Soloman, Arthur ‘Leonard’ ♰
Arthur Solomon, or Leonard as he preferred to be known, lived almost his whole life at Goodman’s Farm in Stansted before being killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He was 26, unmarried and had eight brothers and sisters.
Streatfield, Benjamin Ralph ♰
Ben Streatfield was born and bred in and around Stansted and spent his life working with farm horses. He was one of over 19,000 British fatalities on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Three of his brothers and a cousin served in WWI and survived.
Wood, George Alfred
Private George Wood, 10th (Service) Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) died on 12 August 1916, aged 19. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He was born in Stansted, and at the age of four, the Wood family moved to Fawkham.
Young, Thomas Robert
Sapper Thomas Young of the 26th Field Company, Royal Engineers, died on 1st November 1914, aged 28. He was born in the Anchor & Hope Public House in Ash and is commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium, and on the Burham and Longfield civic war memorials.