Name
Stanley William Hunt
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
NA
Pre War
Stanley’s story is an interesting one because at first, for reasons given below, he appeared to have died on 16 December 1916 and to have been missed off the Hitchin memorials, despite his elder brother Charles Herbert being included
Stanley was born in 1896 in Hitchin. His parents were Walter and Anna Eleanor Hunt and he was the brother of Charles Herbert who was killed in the war.
In 1901 the family were living at 5 Crispin Terrace, Union Road, Hitchin. Present were both parents: Walter (33) and Anna (29), with x working as a painter. Their children were: Charles Hubert (8), Stanley William (5), Florence May (4), Elsie Eleanor (2) and Walter George at 8 months.
By 1911 the family were living at 9 Bearton Road, Hitchin. Present were both parents, x now working as a house painter. The census recorded they had been married for 18 years with 8 children, all living. All the children listed above were present except George. New siblings were: Fredrick (7), Albert (6) and William (3). Stanley was 15 and working as an errand boy.
Before joining up he was a member of the Wesleyan Church in Brand Street Hitchin and sang in the choir.
Before enlistment he worked at Messrs. Cash and Co., Market Place Hitchin and had done so since his school days
He enlisted in June 1915 I went to France around October 1916.
Wartime Service
Stanly was reported in the local paper of 30 December 1916 as dying in hospital on 26 December 1916. It reported that that “The only notification received was one from the Army Pay Officer to say that payments to his mother would cease at the end of 26 weeks, because of his death in hospital.” It failed to say in which hospital, and this was a complete shock to his parents. They had known him to alive on December 11th, because on that date he acknowledged receiving a parcel from the Wesleyan Church Committee. It was also a shocking mistake.
The Hertfordshire Express of 6 January 1917, corrected the error, and reported: "that his parents have been much relieved to receive a communication from the War Office stating that a mistake a Kurd through the confusion of the figures 111, his identification number with 117, the number of another gunner. In addition a letter had been received from the soldier himself, describing how he spent Christmas in France.” The paper also noted that “these exceedingly unfortunate mistakes in official quarters have occurred in several cases at Hitchin”.
It is possible that Stanley re-enlisted in the Second World War as there is a Royal Artillery Tracer for a Stanley William Hunt who enlisted on 28 November 1940 in the 1 Reserve Field Regt Royal Artillery, and discharged from the Reserve in 1954.
Additional Information
His elder brother was Private 90378, Charles Herbert Hunt who was killed in action on 21 March 1918. Why his name was included on the Hitchin War Memorial and Stanley’s not is not known.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines, Jonty Wild
