Name
Alfred Stone
1894
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
13/07/1916
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
20444
Bedfordshire Regiment
6th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
HEILLY STATION CEMETERY, MERICOURT-L'ABBE
II. B. 27.
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
St John the Evangelist Church Memorial, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, John Dickinson & Co Ltd Memorial, Apsley End
Pre War
Albert Stone was born in 1894 in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, the son of George and Mary Ann Harriet Stone, and one of 12 children. At the time of his birth the family were living at 34 London Road, Two Waters, Boxmoor, where they lived for many years. The family were listed there on the 1901 Census when his father was working as a General Labourer.
On the 1911 Census 17 year old Alfred was working as a Printer at John Dickinson & Co, at Apsley Mills, along four of his siblings. The family were then living at 34 London Road, Boxmoor.
He met Mable Hunt who also worked at the factory of John Dickinson & Co, as a Envelope Maker and they married in March 1916 in Hemel Hempstead.
Wartime Service
Alfred enlisted in Watford in May 1915 and joined the Bedfordshire Regiment, being posted to the 3rd (Service) Battalion at Felixstowe for basic training. He was sent to France in May 1916, joining the 6th Battalion on 12 May.
At the end of May he was in trenches near Bienvillers before moving to support trenches close to Contalmaison in early July. Between 8 and 12 July the Battalion recorded 191 casualties from enemy shelling and sniper fire. Alfred was one of those wounded during this time and was taken to the 36th Casualty Clearing Station a few miles away in Heilly. He died from his wounds on 13 July 1916, aged 19, and is buried at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L-'abbe, France.
Additional Information
His widow Mabel received a war gratuity of £4 and pay owing of £2 13s 5d. She also received an initial pension of 10 shillings a week which later increased to 13s 9d. When she remarried on 2 July 1917 to Harold Leese, she received a remarriage gratuity of £34 17s 4d. Brother to Albert Stone who served with the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment and was killed on 19 April 1916. He is also named on the Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial and the Boxmoor Church Memorial.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild. www.hemelheroes.com. www.dacorumheritage.org.uk.
