Stanley's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Stanley Trueman was born in 1895 at Stretford, Manchester, the son of Ethel and Samuel Trueman, a mercantile clerk. In 1901 five-year-old Stanley was living at 90 Broom Avenue, Levenshulme with his parents and 8-month-old baby brother Cyril. By 1911 the family had moved to 412, Claremont Road, Rusholme, Manchester. Stanley was employed as a messenger clerk (mercantile) and he had another brother, Sam, then aged 8.
Stanley's parents later moved to 14 Hawarden Avenue, Whalley Range, Manchester.
It is not clear why Stanley Trueman is commemorated at Rainow, near Macclesfield, but perhaps he lived for a while with his uncle James Trueman of Snipe House Farm (1901) and Brook House Farm (1911 and later); he is known to have attended school in Rainow.
It is not clear why Stanley Trueman is commemorated at Rainow, near Macclesfield, but perhaps he lived for a while with his uncle James Trueman of Snipe House Farm (1901) and Brook House Farm (1911 and later); he is known to have attended school in Rainow.
WW1 SERVICE
Stanley attested in Manchester, and after his training was drafted with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force to the Dardanelles, arriving there on 5th May 1915. He was killed in action just one month later on 4th June 1915, aged 19 years, in the attack at Krithia Nullah which also claimed the life of Frank Helm of Wilmslow, who served with the 8th Manchester Regiment.
Stanley's death was reported in the Manchester Evening News on 2nd July 1915, under the headline "Local Battalions Again Suffer Badly - Thirty 6th Manchesters Killed":
Another appalling list of casualties among the men of the East Lancashire Territorial Division at the Dardanelles is issued today. The list contains the names of no fewer than 120 men who have given their lives...
6th Battalion Manchester Regiment....
TRUEMAN (1670) Private S., 13, Harper-st., Old Trafford
The death of Stanley Trueman is mentioned in the report of the death of Fred Trueman of Gawsworth, printed in the Macclesfield Times on 21 April 1916:
...His cousin, Private Stanley Trueman of Manchester was killed at the Dardanelles some time ago.
He is also mentioned in the report of the death of Corporal James Belfield of Rainow, printed in the Macclesfield Times on 3 November 1916, showing that Stanley had attended school in Rainow:
...Corporal Belfield received his education at the Rainow Wesleyan School... the Roll of Honour in this school contains the names of 57 young men... four have already sacrificed their lives... Stanley Trueman, Frank Pickford, Albert Sigley and James Belfield...
COMMEMORATION
Private Stanley Trueman has no known grave and is commemorated on panel ref. 158 to 170 of the Helles Memorial, Turkey.
Locally, Private Stanley Trueman is commemorated on the Rainow war memorial, and on his grandparents' gravestone in Macclesfield Cemetery, plot Z18161. Elsewhere, he is commemorated on war memorials at Stretford and the former St. John the Evangelist Church, Old Trafford (now at St Bride's Church, Old Trafford). He may also be the S Trueman named on the Manchester Employees Roll of Honour for the company of Oxendale & Co.
NOTES
Cousin of Fred Trueman of Gawsworth, who served as Private 15983 with the 10th Cheshire Regiment and died in France on 30th March 1916.
SOURCES
GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births
Census (England & Wales): 1901, 1911
WWI British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects (Ancestry)
WWI British Army Medal Rolls Index Cards (Ancestry)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
British Rolls Of Honour And Nominal Rolls, First World War (Find My Past)
Manchester Evening News: 2 July 1915
Macclesfield Times: 21 April 1916, 3 November 1916
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.