Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry
Herbert Francis Stevenson - Private 333891
This page is dedicated to the memory of Herbert Francis Stevenson who died on 22nd October 1918.
Herbert Francis Stevenson died on 22nd October 1918 in Belgium. He was unfortunately one of the casualties amongst the millions of men who lost their lives in World War 1. It seemed sad for him to have died and all but these bare facts remembered, so I've tried to find out at least a little about his life before his untimely death aged just 20.
Herbert Francis Stevenson was born on 6th October 1898 at 25 Osberton Street in New Basford, Nottinghamshire. He was the youngest of 9 children of Martin Stevenson and his wife Kate (or Catherine) Shaw. His father Martin was an engine fitter or mechanic. In 1901 the family were living at 25 Osberton Street, Basford. Martin was now working as a fitter on lace machines and Herbert was just 2 years old.
By 1911 the family were still living in Osberton Street and Herbert's father was described as a lace machine mechanic. Herbert was still at school aged 12, while 3 of his older siblings remained at home working in various ways with bobbins.
War broke out in the summer of 1914, when Herbert would have been 15 years old. Unfortunately many of the WW1 service records were destroyed in a bombing raid in WW2 and Herbert's was one of those that didn't survive. So I don't know when exactly he enlisted, but it's unlikely to have been in the first few years as he would have been too young (although there are certainly cases of much younger boys enlisting). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms that he was a Private in the 9th Battalion (Glasgow Highlands) of the Highland Light Infantry and that his service number was 333891. I can't reproduce his CWGC record, but to see his page please click here.
You can now look at the Medal Roll cards from the first world war online. These show a soldier's name, rank and what medals they were entitled to. Due to copyright issues, I don't think I can reproduce the image of the medal card, so instead I've transcribed it:
| Name | Corps | Rank | Regtl No. | ||
| STEVENSON | Notts & Derby R | Pte | 30506 | ||
| Herbert | H L I | " | 333891 | ||
| Medal. | Roll | Page | Remarks | ||
| VICTORY | D/104 B28 | 2902 | |||
| BRITISH | ditto | ditto | |||
| 14 STAR | |||||
| Theatre of War first served in | |||||
| Date of entry therein Date | |||||
His medal card shows that he had initially joined the Nottingham & Derby Regiment, before being transferred to the Highland Light Infantry. It suggests he would have been entitled to 2 medals. The British Medal was awarded to servicemen who served in a theatre of war between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918. The Victory Medal (Allied Victory Medal) was awarded for service in any operational theatre over the same time frame. The Star was awarded to all those who served in any theatre of war against Germany between 5th August 1914 and 31st December 1915. Since Herbert wasn't awarded the star, it seems likely that he enlisted after 1915 - perhaps in 1916 when he would have been 18. His father Martin died in 1916.
Although Herbert's service records haven't survived, you can now look online at the War Diaries for a given Regiment. War Diaries were kept as a daily record of operations, intelligence reports and anything else that was going on for a given battalion. So I've downloaded the War Diary for the 9th Battalion (Glasgow Highlands) of the Highland Light Infantry. The battalion was sent to France in November 1914 (before Herbert could have joined). They took part inthe Battle of Loos and fought at the Somme in 1916, when they lost many men. In 1917 they fought in the Arras Offensive and at Passchendale. I've transcribed the relevant day of Herbert's death below.
| 9th Battalion WAR DIARY FOR April - 1918 | |||
| WAR DIARY or INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY | |||
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
| AUXTROIS ROIS CABT | 13 | 12.30am | 2 platoons of "D" Coy were sent into the line to reinforce "C" Coy whilst their two platoons were clearing up NEUVE EGLISE. |
| 1.50am | "A" Coy have got detached from our right and are now in position, between other units, on the ARMENTIERES side of the X roads ARMENTIERS-BAILLEUL and NEUVE EGLISE - NIEPPE ROADS with his right flank resting on the ARMENTIERS - BAILLEUL road. | ||
| " | 6.20am | A report from Capt Reid O:C B Coy is received stating the troops on his right flank were returning before the enemy, this proved to be the beginning of a ? attack on NEUVE EGLISE. The morning was very misty and thereby favoured the enemy but our men held on with great determination and succeeded in repulsing the enemy and inflicting heavy losses on him. we captured an officer and one ot two men but most of the loss inflicted on the enemy was in killed. As in yesterday's attack one or two small parties worked their way into our lines but as the mist faded away the situation was quickly got in hand and the enemy well punished. We had some officer casualties and several other ranks. A great number of stragglers of other units were collected by our officers and NCOs and put in the line with our men. These were ? men who had been in the line several days and had become detached from units. By 9.30am the show had quietened down; our artillery were shooting short and a direct hit was obtained on Battalion HQs which wrecked the room. A good deal of useful work was accomplished by the smart handling of ? by their teams. | |
| 8.30am | The enemy put down an intense barrage on our HQs line and back lines | ||
| 8.45am | An urgent call for ammunition and reinforcements from C Coy received. Captain Harris killed whilst visiting his posts. | ||
| 9am | 2n Lts Nairne and 2 platoons of "D"Coy sent forward to reinfoce "C"Coy. By this time all machine guns in the group in our sector were knocked out and their crews killed or wounded. | ||
| 9.35am | The enemy are seen retreating and O.C "C" Coy sent 2Lt Harris and platoon forward to clear NEUVE EGLISE of the enemy. | ||
| 11am | An officer of the 363 Regt German Infantry Reserve captured. documents on him show that an attempt was to be made in the afternoon to capture NEUVE EGLISE if the morning attempt failed. | ||
| T 13d 25 90 | 13 | 7pm | From our headquarters men were seen to be running over the skyline and a few stragglers moving along the road running from NEUVE EGLISE past AUXTROIS ROIS CABT. and through square T13d. the men were moving in a westerly direction; we collected them and formed them up under our own officers. The enemy succeeded in driving our Coy back from HILL 75 after hard fighting to the ridge running round the west of AUXTROIS ROIS CABARET. The enemy attempted to surround our battalion encircling movement approaching WATERLOO ROAD line from the south through squares T19 and 20 and S24; as our R flank was completely open the situation was somewhat critical during the night. Reinforcements were hurried forward during the night from "B" Echelons and the 7th Bde were sent up to positions on the RAVELSBURG SPUR at CRUCIFIX CORNER. The enemy was pinned to this ground during the night and the battalion was withdrawn in an orderly manner just before dawn on the 14th inst and marched to HILLE in square S4d where it lay in a field for the remainder of the morning. |
So Herbert's battalion was in the thick of fighting in what I think became known as the Battle of the Bailleul, during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. Although the war diary lists the officers who were killed or missing, it doesn't name the other ranks. But over the week surrounding Herbert's capture 148 other ranks were listed as missing, presumed killed or captured. Herbert must have been one of these.
Herbert was reported missing in April 1918 and in fact was taken prisoner, although I've not found any newspaper reports as early as that. His death was eventually reported in the local newspapers in 1919. Did his mother live in hope all that time that he was still alive somewhere? The image below is taken from the Nottingham Evening Post on 4th September 1919. They've got the year he was taken prisoner wrong, but the rest is correct. Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
The records from the International Committee of the Red Cross confirm his death on 22nd October 1918. Written in German it says "zu Erqueliennes infolge Darmkatarrh, Lungenentzundung. beerd Laz Friedhof daselbst" which roughly translates as "to Erqueliennes due to enteritis and pneumonia. Buried in cemetery there." Erquelinnes is hundreds of miles from where he was captured, so he was presumably transported to a prisoner of war camp in that area.
Herbert was buried at Erquelinnes Communal Cemetery in Belgium. He is also commemorated on the St Leodegarius Church War Memorial in Basford. 3 of Herbert's brothers were also killed during the war, so his mother lost 4 of her 6 sons. The family also lost 2 of William's cousins; the Stevenson family paid a heavy price in WW1.
The final piece of documentation I could find for Herbert was the Army Register of Soldiers' Effects. This document showed that at the time of his death he had £44.0s.10d which included the war gratuity, which his mother received. Not much to show for the ultimate sacrifice.
So far I've not managed to find a photograph of Herbert; it would be lovely to be able to add one to complete his story. So if anyone has a photo of Herbert Stevenson, please do get in touch. E-mail: n.rowberry@btinternet.com
In researching Herbert's life, several sites have been invaluable, so I've included links to some of them here.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
The National Archives at Kew:
The British Newspaper Archive:
If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com
Nicky Rowberry 2025
Thank you for visiting my site. You are visitor number:
Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry