Pte 51967 Stanley Hargreaves

• Age: 27
• From: Darwen, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Warlencourt Brit Cem
  Panel Ref: II.B.18

Stanley Hargreaves was born in 1889 in Darwen, the son of William Hargreaves and his wife Helen (nee McGhie) who were married in 1886. .

The 1891 Census shows the 2 year old Stanley living with his parents and siblings – Fred aged 3 and Minnie aged 1, at 32 Harwood Street Darwen. His father William was a 39 year old house painter who had been born in Darwen, and his mother was 29 and had been born in Scotland. The 1881 census shows Ellen as being born in Gatehouse, Kirkcudbrightshire, at that time she was unmarried and working as a servant in the home of John Walmsley a cotton manufacturer who employed 350-400 people.

The 1901 Census shows the family at the same address. His father, William, is aged 49, still a house painter, mother Helen is aged 38, Stanley aged 12 is now an apprentice painter, his brother Fred, aged 13, is an errand boy and Thomas aged 9, Bessie 5 and Norah aged 3 months 

The 1911 Census shows the family living at, 108 Tockholes Road, Darwen. His father, William, is aged 59, a house painter, mother Helen is aged 49. Stanley’s brother Thomas had died the year before and the census records his mother had borne seven children but only Fred, Stanley, Bessie and Norah have survived. Fred aged 23, is employed as a cotton manufacturer’s clerk, Stanley aged 22, is a house painter, Bessie aged 15, is a cotton winder and Nora is now aged 10. 

His father died, aged 59, in the March quarter of 1912. 

Stanley enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 51967 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916, aged 27, during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17th Bn War Diary: Battle of Transloy Ridge –

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday. Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16 - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak. 2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced. Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful. Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed, 5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds: “As the whistle blew, the 17th Battalion left its trenches to move forward. […] As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire. […] Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire. As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them. The 17th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets. Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will. It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners. There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.”

Soldiers Effects and Pension to mother Helen, 2 Dale Ave, Bispham, Blackpool. 

Stanley rests at Warlencourt British Cemetery, France. 

Warlencourt Cemetery is entirely a concentration cemetery, begun late in 1919 when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars.  The Graves Registration form shows graves from “Le Sars 6/1, 6/2, Hexham Road, Seven Elms”.

Graves were brought in from the original cemeteries at Hexham Road (Le Sars), and Seven Elms (Flers), as well as over 3,000 British graves due to the fighting which took place around the Butte de Warlencourt from the autumn of 1916 to the spring of 1917, and again in the German advance and retreat of 1918.   The cemetery now contains 3,505 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War, 1,823 of which are unidentified.

His mother died, aged 83, in the June quarter of 1945. 

We currently have no further information on Stanley Hargreaves, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.