Pte 307968 Arthur Stanley Myland

• Age: 22
• From: Greenwich Kent
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 31st August 1918
• Commemorated at: Vis-en-artois Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 3 & 4

Arthur Stanley Myland was born in the last quarter of 1896, the youngest child of Henry Frank Myland and his wife Selina (nee Fox), who married in Greenwich in 1884.  His father was born in Andover, Hampshire, and his mother in Pontesbury, Kent (although one census states Atcham, Shropshire). They had seven children but, sadly, two died in infancy. Stanley was the youngest; his siblings were Kate, Charles, Albert, and Ralph.  All the children were born in Greenwich.  Ralph died in 1899 aged 6. 

In 1901 the family is living at 45 Furzefield Road, Greenwich. His father is a 43 year old milk carrier, his mother is 40 years old. There are three children in the household; Charles is 12 born in Blackheath, as was Albert aged 9,  Stanley is 4 years old.  Also declared are two boarders; Charles and William Flowers both of whom are working in a cartridge factory Arsenal.  

It is not known what brought the family to the Manchester area, but his father Frank died there in 1909. 

The 1911 Census shows his widowed mother Selina, working as a chapel caretaker, is head of household at 5 Macfarran Street, Longsight, Manchester.  His sister Kate, 24, is a waitress, his brothers Charles, 21, and Albert, 19, are engine cleaners, and Stanley, 14, is a grocer’s errand boy. 

His elder brothers Charles and Albert were the bread winners for the family after the fathers death, they had jobs as engine cleaners with the London and North West Railway on 1911 Census and most probably transferred to Manchester with their job.

His mother remarried in 1914 to Edward Marshall. 

Unfortunately, Stanley’s service record has not survived, but it is known that he enlisted in Manchester as Private 5987,  joining the 1/ 8^th  Battalion, King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. He subsequently transferred to 2/7^th K.L.R. with the regimental number 307968.

On 15^th May 1918 a notice in the Manchester Evening News stated that Stanley Myland was in a London hospital with trench fever.  

Stanley's service is subsequently shrouded in doubt. SDGW and The History of The King's Liverpool Regiment both state clearly that he was serving with the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. However, both the Medal Roll and CWGC state that he was serving with the 13th Battalion K.L.R. It is entirely possible that the differences are the result of different readings of the numbers 13 and 18 upon transcription. Either way Stanley was killed in action on 31st August 1918 aged 21.

His body was not recovered and his name is recorded on the Vis En Artois Memorial in France. 

The Vis en Artois Memorial bears the names of over 9,000 men who fell in the period from 8 August 1918 to the date of the Armistice in the Advance to Victory in Picardy and Artois, between the Somme and Loos, and who have no known grave.

The memorial was designed by J.R. Truelove, with sculpture by Ernest Gillick. It was unveiled by the Rt. Hon. Thomas Shaw on 4 August 1930.

Stanley’s death was announced in the Manchester Evening News on 26^th September 1918. The article stated that he worked for the ‘Manchester cars’ which means the Tramways. 

Pte A.S. Myland appeared on the Weekly Casualty List on 15^th October 1918. 

His brother Charles died in March 1919, at age 29. Charles and his brother Albert were both firemen.

Stanley’s effects and pension went to his mother Selina, living at No.1 Newton Bank, Longsight, Manchester.

An In Memorium notice was placed in the Manchester Evening News on 31st August 1923, the fifth anniversary of Stanley's death:

MYLAND - In fond memory of my dear brother Private STANLEY ARTHUR MYLAND 307986 K.L.Regt who was killed Aug. 31. 1918.

As years roll on deeper are the thoughts of his brother Bert and and sister in law Amy 

46 Tallis Street, Longsight  

Stanley is commemorated on the Memorial to the Employees of Manchester Corporation Tramways, Cheetham Hill, Greater Manchester.

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