The Lewis Gunner

The Lewis Gunner

This story was shared at the Somerville Great War Roadshow at Somerville College, 15 Nov 2014.

My father, William Francis Charles Stone, was born in 1898 in Headington. He was the eldest son and his father was a builder and his mother ran the general store in Pitts Road, Headington Quarry. William trained as a woodcutting machinist and worked for Mrs Oborne of Oxford High Street before the war. Mrs Oborne gave him a prayer book (the Treasury of Devotion) and a crucifix for him to wear. His mother and his employer were surprised when he volunteered in April 1915 aged only sixteen, joining the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry as a private. His father also served in the war, in the Royal Army Service Corps. William was gassed twice, fought at the Somme and in 1917 he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion (commonly referred to as the 52nd). William was a very good shot - he used to put a coin on the railing of the footpath down Headington Hill and shoot at it for target practice. He was a Lewis Gunner and achieved a first class classification in 'musketry'. He did not really talk much about the war although he did mention the mud in the trenches. After the war he had nightmares and found it very difficult. He spoke of climbing over dead bodies at the Somme. He never wore his medals, they are still in the original envelopes and the ribbons were never attached. When the war ended, he went to Germany as part of the occupying force after the Armistice. He returned to Britain in 1919 and he then stayed in the reserves for a number of years. He was in the Home Guard during the Second World War. His mementoes of the war included a collection of postcards from his various postings and a spirit flask, which he used to take to Oxford United football matches after the war.

See more pictures at: http://europeana1914-1918.eu/en/contributions/18662.

Bernard Stone

Shared under a CC-BY-SA 3.0 licence. @Bernard Stone