Charles Stanley Barns

Rank 
Captain
Regiment 
London Regiment
Date of death 
22 July 1918
Age of death 
24
Cemetery / Memorial 
United Kingdom
Biography 

Born in 1893 at Dursley Gloucestershire, the son of Charles Newcombe (Secretary of a Charitable Institution) and Gertrude Barns. 1911: The family was living at “Lyndhurst” Churchfields, South Woodford, but by the time of his death the family home had moved to “Darley Dell” 51 Buckingham Road, South Woodford. He worshipped at Derby Road Methodist Church. Initially he joined the Artists Rifles, but was then Commissioned into 17 London Regiment (Stepney and Poplar Rifles). He was also seconded to the Machine Gun Corps.

Deployed in France during May 1916, he was wounded at Hebuterne on 1st July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was hit in the shoulder by a bullet which broke his shoulder blade, and never fully recovered. Subsequently appointed to the War Office as D.A.D.L. (Deputy Assistant Director of Labour), responsible for WAAC matters. Probate records state on his death he was serving as a Staff Captain with Eastern Command. He died in Woodford from Pneumonia, perhaps an early victim of the Spanish Flu Pandemic due to his weakened state.

Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Free BMD

Woodford Times