| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Harold Stephenson was born in Beverley the 24 Nov 1895, the son of William Stephenson and Ada Medd. William was a bricklayer and builder. The family lived at Trinity Grove in the 1890s, then 24 Regent Street, before 24 Cherry Tree Lane became their long term family home. Herbert attended Beverley Wesleyan School, Spencer Street from 1902 until Jul 1910, he left to work for the Post Office (GPO) as a telegraphist.
Harold enlisted in Beverley on 11 Dec 1915 and joined the Army Reserve. His skills were recognised however and the GPO was sent a missive stating that, “he is an expert telegraphist, and cannot be released for enlistment, except in the Royal Engineers, Signal Section.”. On 2 Mar 1916 Harold duly joined the RE as a sapper and went to their training school at Fenny Stratford. He subsequently left Devonport on 10 Sep 1916 en route for Mesopotamia, now Iraq. The British campaign against the Turks in this area was led by the Indian Army (Indian Expeditionary Force) to which Harold’s signal company was attached. He worked at base headquarters. The British campaign-largely to protect oil reserves and to win over Muslims in the Middle and Far East by liberating them from Ottoman Turkish control, had gone badly in early 1916 with the surrounding and surrender of Townshend’s army at Kut. When Harold arrived British forces were advancing north up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers towards Baghdad, taken in 1917, and later Mosul which fell in 1918. Harold remained in the region until early 1920. He was awarded the War and Victory medals.
Harold went back to the GPO on his return and in 1939 was a postal clerk. In 1934 he married Evelyn May Elvidge in Beverley, they lived at 6 Cartwright Lane. Harold died on 6 Sep 1987, whilst a resident of Minster Towers, Lord Roberts Road, and was buried at Queensgate Cemetery four days later. Evelyn died in 1985.
Includes photograph, information taken from , census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |