William Henry's Story.
William Henry Stubbs was born in Crewe on 23rd October 1885, the eldest son of Wesley Stubbs (1850 - 1910) and Emma Penlington (1857 - ). He grew up at 27 Station Street (1891 census), and later at 48 Westminster Street, Crewe (1901 / 1911 census). He was brother to Edith, Louisa, Martha, James, Sarah Jane, Francis, Emma and Herbert.
William was a former pupil of Mill Street School, Crewe and a labourer in No.7 and No.8 Erecting Shops, Crewe Works. He was a member of the Primitive Methodist Church choirs at the Wedgwood Chapel in Heath Street and at a chapel in Mill Street. His father, who died in 1910, had been a stone mason, working for LNWR.
William enlisted into the Royal Engineers at Chester on 2nd September 1914. His company landed in Egypt (for Gallipoli) on 12th July 1915.
He died on 12th August after receiving wounds to his left leg and right hand, during the landing at Suvla Bay on 9th August. He was 29 years old.
Suvla Bay, from Battleship Hill.
According to Wikipedia:
"The landing at Suvla Bay was part of the Gallipoli campaign of Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. It was an amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli. The landing, which commenced on the night of 6 August 1915, was intended to support a breakout from the ANZAC sector, five miles (8 km) to the south. Although initially successful, against only light opposition, the landing at Suvla was mismanaged and chaotic. On 15th August, after a week of indecision and inactivity, the British commander at Suvla, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford, was dismissed. His performance in command is often considered one of the most incompetent feats of generalship of the First World War."
William's medals card:
His effects were returned to his widowed mother, who received a war gratuity:
His mother Emma's address on his pension card in 1919 was 99 Edlestone Road, Crewe, but later at 21 Oakland Avenue, Haslington, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
His name is inscrbed on a bronze plaque, originally located at the Wedgwood Methodist Chapel on Heath Street, which William had attended. After the closure of the church in 1969 the memorial was mislaid. In 2004 the memorial was re-discovered and presented to the Hightown Methodist Church where it was displayed until the Church closed in 2010. Following this, it was moved to the Heritage Centre, Vernon Way, Crewe, where it was on display in July 2025.
Researched by Mark A. Potts (July 2, 2017) and Shena Lewington (August 2025).