Peterborough & The Great War

Biography

Stanley Jack was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk on 6 January 1892, to parents Jonathan and Laura Page.  In 1901, Jack (9) is living at the Three Horseshoes, Wiggonhall, Downham, Norfolk with his parents and siblings Olive, Violet and Horace.  His father was an innkeeper and carpenter.

By 1911, the family had moved to 42 Derby Road, Stapleford, Nottinghamshire and Stanley (19) was a clerk for a lace manufacturer and living with his parents and siblings Olive Mary (20) and Violet Jessie, both working as clerks for a chemical manufacturer, Horace George (15) a fitter and Harold Vernon (6).

Stanley married Lois Alice Marjorie Whiting at the Parish Church, Long Eaton on 26 December 1914.  They had three children: Doris (1914 at Willesden), Brian (1918) and Derek (1920) both born in Nottingham.

Stanley attested on 4 September 1914, joining the Hussars and later transferring to the 3^rd Battalion Suffolk Regiment on 2 June 1915.  He passed through Peterborough East Station and wrote the following poem in the visitors’ book on 14 October 1916.

“The wild winds wail like some sad soul
Whose days on earth are spent.
Hurled forth by the hand of death
Into eternity sent.

Yet how I love its plaintive dirge
Tho sad as sad can be
It is the music of my soul
An accompaniment for me

The winds they sang a welcome
When first I saw the light
May they sing my funeral song
When I pass into the night”

Stanley served in France between September and November 1915 and transferred to the 7^th Infantry Works Company, Middlesex Regiment on 1 March 1917.

He was discharged on 8 May 1917, as no longer physically fit for war service due to sickness caused by active service.  On discharge he was living at 28 Recreation Street, Long Eaton, Derbyshire.  He was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War and Allied Victory Medals, Silver War Badge and King’s Certificate.

Stanley’s older brother, Horace George Page enlisted with the Royal Navy for 12 years in October 1913, and transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve 30 September 1925.

In the 1939 Register Stanley is living in Grimsby but sadly widowed, Lois having died in 1932.   Stanley was a civil servant working for the General Post Office.

Does this story sound familiar?  Please get in touch if you can you tell us more about Stanley Page.