Name
Arthur Stone
1885
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
19/04/1916
31
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
16689
Bedfordshire Regiment
8th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 31 and 33.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
St John the Evangelist Church Memorial, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial
Pre War
Arthur Stone was born in 1885 in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, the son and oldest child 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.
He was educated at Two Waters School, although in April 1890 school records show that there was an issue regarding payment of his school fees which would have been about 12 old pence a year (62 pence), His father worked as a General Labourer and his wage may not have been sufficient.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at 34 London Road, Boxmoor. His father was working as a General Labourer and 16 year old Arthur and his sister Louisa were both working for John Dickinson & Co. Arthur was an Envelope Packer.
By 1911 the family were living at London Road, Boxmoor and Arthur and four of his siblings were working at John Dickinson & Co. (N.B. He must have changed employment before the outbreak of war as he is not named on the company war memorial).
Parents later lived at 248 Holly Bush, Boxmoor.
Wartime Service
Arthur enlisted at Watford in September 1914 and joined the Bedfordshire Regiment, being posted to the 8th Battalion. He was sent to Woking, Surrey for basic training and eventually mobilised the August the following year.
He arrived at Boulogne-su-Mer on 30 August 1915 and shortly after saw his first action in the Battle of Loos. Between January and April 1916 the Battalion was in a sector of the Front Line close to Ypres and the Yser Canal.
On the night of the 19/20 April the Battalion were subjected to 2 hours of artillery bombardment, followed by a German attack in the trenches. During this attack more than 200 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing. Arthur was one of the 97 men who were missing, believed killed on 19 April 1916, aged 31. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.
Additional Information
His mother received a pension of 5 shillings a week. His father received a war gratuity of £7 and pay owing of 3 4s 4d. Brother to Alfred who served with the 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment and was killed on 13 July 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.
