Biography of Driver Frank Stubley (170888)
32nd Battery. 33rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
Died 1st April 1918

Mother

• Name: Sarah Elizabeth Walker
• DOB: 1860
• Place Of Birth: Bourne, Lincolnshire, England
• Marriage: 17th May 1882 Bourne, Lincolnshire, England

Relatives in services

• Most of Frank’s brothers fought in the WW1 but Ernest and George were killed and never returned home. They can be found on our page dedicated to the Bourne War Memorial.

• No marriage for Frank has been found and because of his age we can assume that he never had the opportunity to marry.

Newspaper Mentions

• Lincolnshire Echo Monday 13th May 1918
  OFFICIAL LOCAL CASUALTIES
  KILLED
  ROYAL FIELD ARTILLIERY
  Stubley, 170888 Driver F. (Bourne)

• Grantham Journal Saturday 22nd June 1918
  KILLED IN ACTION – Official notification has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Francis Stubley, of North Fen, that their son, Pte. E. Stubley, who was some time ago missing, is now reported killed in action, the notification giving the place of burial. Pte. Stubbly was attached to the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Mr. and Mrs. Stubley had previously lost their son Francis, killed in action whilst another son, Pte. George Stubley , is now missing. There are two other sons also in the Army.

Military Records

Medals

• The British Medal
• The Victory Medal

Memorials

• UK:
• Bourne, Roll of Honour in Bourne Abbey Church
  Bourne War Memorial in the Memorial Gardens

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
• In memory of Driver F Stubley, 170888, 32nd Battery. 33rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery who died on 01 April 1918, Age 24
• Son of Francis and Elizabeth Stubley, of Wood House, North Fen, Bourne, Lincs.
• Remembered with honour, St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen
• Grave P. IX. E. 10B.

© Picture taken by South Lincolnshire War Memorials

Military Service Timeline

• Today we remember Bourne man Francis (Frank) Stubley who died on this day 1 April 1918, aged 24 whilst serving with the 32nd Battery, 33rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
   
  Born in Bourne in 1896, Frank was the son of Francis Stubley, a Small Holder from Bourne, and Sarah Elizabeth (nee Walker) from Bourne. Francis and Sarah were married in 1899 in Bourne.
  They went on to have thirteen children:
   
  Emma (born 1882, Bourne)
  James (1884, Bourne)
  Mary Ann (born 1887, Bourne)
  John Francis (1887, Bourne)
  Albert Henry (1888, Bourne)
  Ernest (1890, Bourne)
  Alfred (1892, Bourne)
  Francis (1894, Bourne)
  Arthur (1897, Bourne)
  George (1899, Bourne)
  Violet (1901, Bourne)
  Edith May (1903, Bourne)
  Annie Mable (1905, Bourne).
   
  In 1901 and 1911, the family were listed as living in the Cottages down South Fen Road. On the 1911 census, aged 16, Frank was recorded to be living in Dyke with the Askew family, working as a horseman on the farm.
   
  Like many men of who served during the First World War, their records are no long in existence. This does make it challenging for those wishing to discover more about who they were.
   
  Francis was in fact mentioned in the Grantham Journal, dated June 22 1918, in a report alongside his brothers Ernest and George. The article was only to mention Francis’ death from two months earlier:
   
  ‘’KILLED IN ACTION.- Official notification has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Francis Stubley, of North Fen, that their son, Pte. E. Stubley, who was some time ago missing, is now reported killed in action, the notification giving the place of burial. Pte. Stubley was attached to the King’ Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Mr and Mrs Stubley had previously lost their son Francis, killed in action, whilst another son, Pte George Stubley, is now missing. There are two other sons also in the Army.’’
   
  This was a terrible blow to the Stubley family. It is not known who the other sons in the Army were, but can probably be presumed by their age. However, all three brothers listed, Ernest, Francis and George did die during the First World War. Ernest, who was serving with the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment was originally reported as missing on the Somme in 1916, eventually being confirmed as killed in October 1916 aged 26. George was reported missing in March 1918, after being stationed near Ploegsteert fighting with the Durham Light Infantry. It was confirmed that George was killed just 12 days after Francis aged 19.
  Information provided from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission show that the Stubley family moved to Woodhouse Farm, North Fen, Bourne before Frank’s death.
   
  Frank is buried in St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen. Both St Sever and the Extension Cemetery are part of a larger communal cemetery situated on the edge of the suburbs of Le Grand Quevilly and Le Petit Quevilly in Southern Rouen. During the war, Commonwealth camps and hospitals were situated on the outskirts of Rouen. A base supply depot and a General Headquarters were also located in the city. Throughout the whole war, hospitals were used in Rouen to treat soldiers. This included eight general hospitals, five stationary, one British Red Cross unit and one labour hospital. Due to the sheer volumes of war dead coming from these hospitals, by September 1916, the Extension Cemetery was being established. Burials were taking place here until April 1920.
   
  During the Second World War, Rouen played the role of a medical centre again, with the Extension Cemetery being used to bury war dead from this conflict also. The Cemetery Extension contains 8,348 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, where only ten are unidentified- a key characteristic to know this was used as a medical cemetery. Block ‘’S’’ was established for Second World War burials, of which there are 328 in total, 18 that are unidentified. There are also eight foreign burials here. The extension was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
   
  Francis is buried in grave P. IX. E. 10B.
   
  https://southlincolnshirewarmemorials.org.uk/our-villages/bourne/francis-stubley/

Sources

• WW1 Soldier’s Records (www.ancestry.co.uk)
• British Newspaper Archive.
• Fold 3
• Find My Past
• Genealogist
• Forces War Records
• British Army Service Numbers
• War Gratuity Calculator
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• National Archives – Battalion War Diaries
• General Registry Office