9189 Cpl Joseph Stacey, 2nd Bn, Northants Regt

9189 Corporal Joseph Stacey of the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, was killed in action on the 4th March 1917. He was one of 541 men to die on this date.

Joseph Stacey was born in St Margaret's, Leicester, and enlisted at Northampton. Papers from his service record survive in the WO 363 series at the National Archives, and the following information is taken from these.

When he joined the Northamptonshire Regiment on the 9th August 1910, Joseph Stacey was a serving member with the 4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. This was a Territorial Force battalion and so Joseph's commitment would only have been of a part-time nature. He obviously felt, however, that he was cut-out for army life and wanted to make a career of it. His attestation papers record that when he joined the Northants Regiment he was 18 years and five months old and working as a printer. He was five feet four and a half inches tall, had a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. On his right forearm he had a tattoo of Buffalo Bill's head and also a woman's head.

In common with many regular soldiers, Joseph clocked up a few misdemeanours during his time with the army: dirty and untidy quarters are noted in February 1912; absent from pass and being improperly dressed are also recorded for the same year. In October 1914 he was again absent from his pass for a few hours. Such "crimes" seem trivial these days and even then they weren't sufficiently serious to prevent him from being awarded his first good conduct badge in August 1912.

On 13th March 1913, having spent two and a half years in England, Joseph Stacey sailed for Malta. Whilst there, he was inoculated twice for typhoid, a disease which had exacted a heavy toll on British forces during the Boer War. He remained there until the 17th January 1914 and then sailed for Egypt. He was still in Egypt when Britain went to war with Germany, and he headed back for England on the 16th October that year. On the 4th November 1914 he arrived in France, thus just qualifying for the 1914 Star and clasp; an Old Contemptible - just.

Joseph Stacey was certainly wounded twice before he was killed. On the 5th July 1916, with the Battle of the Somme raging, he was promoted corporal. Two days later he received a shell wound to his right shoulder.

He was wounded again on the 21st October 1916, this time receiving a gunshot wound to his right arm. He spent eight days in the 5th General Hospital at Rouen, was transferred to a convalescent camp at Etaples on the 4th November, and was back with his battalion by the 15th. Three months later, his luck ran out.

On the 15th November 1917, letters, photos and postcards, the sole remaining personal effects of 9189 Pte Joseph Stacey, were despatched to his aunt, Miss Sarah Ann Stacey, at 4 Canning Street, Leicester. In due course, his medals would also be sent to the same address.

Joseph Stacey is buried in Fins New British Cemetery at Sorel-Le-Grand in France.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers