Derbyshire Lads: The Men: Joseph Stovin

Stovin, Joseph
11th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby) Regiment, died of wounds, 21st January 1916. 70th Brigade, 8th Division. Resident of Nottingham, enlisted Mansfield, born Tibshelf, Derbyshire.

The Christmas period of 1915-1916 saw the 11th Sherwood Foresters following a routine of going in and out of the front line. Casualties were minor but the cumulative effect was not healthy. The majority of casualties were wounded but an entry in the battalion war diary of 19 October 1915 is unusual: "Dropped dead 16120 Pte. S.A. Helds A Coy" [1]. On 4 November the battalion entered front line trenches which were, " ….knee deep in water in many places, both parapets and dugouts were in a very bad state owing to the heavy rain". [2]

In late November the battalion, still new to the war, was removed for training in Steenbecque, a few miles behind the lines. Two weeks of company based training was followed by battalion and divisional training. A wet and miserable Christmas day was celebrated in Steenbecque though presents were handed out from the City and County of Nottingham. The battalion band, whose instruments had arrived from the Derby depot just two days previously, provided ad hoc entertainment. On the 31st a new officer. Second Lieutenant Frank Leslie Reynolds from Tibshelf, joined the battalion.

By a stroke of fortune the 'Men from the Greenwood' heard that the Sherwood Forester Territorial Brigade (139th Brigade, 46th Division) were billeted nearby at Isberges. Football games were hastily arranged. In a 'home' fixture the 11th Battalion beat the 1/6th battalion 7 v O! However the 'away' fixture, to which the entire battalion were marched, resulted in a 2 v 1 defeat.

The pleasurable period of safety in Steenbecue ended on 11 January 1916 with orders to march back to the front line at Rue de Quesne, via Neuf Berguin. It was here, at some point between the 13th and 19th January, that Joseph Stovin was badly wounded, probably by the intermittent shellfire that claimed the lives of 4 other men during this time. On the 20th he succumbed to his wounds and died, aged just 19.

[1] 'Soldiers Died' records Private L.A. Heeds of Sheffield as having died on that day. Either the war diary, or (more likely) 'Soldiers Died' has failed to record the death of this unfortunate man accurately.
[2] War Diary, 11th Battalion

Sources

11th Sherwood Foresters War Diary.
Brigadier-General Sir. J. Edmunds, 'British Official History'
'The Men from the Greenwood - Being the History of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters', Percy Fryer
Author's notes

The above is one extract from the authors developing book on the fates of the men on the Tibshelf War Memorial, tentatively titled 'Faithful Unto Death'.
© A.D. Hesketh 2001.


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Stovin, Joseph 11th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby) Regiment, died of wounds, 21st January 1916. 70th Brigade, 8th Division. Resident of Nottingham, enlisted Mansfield, born Tibshelf, Derbyshire. The Christmas period of 1915-1916 saw the 11th Sherwood Foresters following a routine of going in and out of the front line. Casualties were minor but the cumulative effect was not healthy. The majority of casualties were wounded but an entry in the battalion war diary of 19 October 1915 is unusual: "Dropped dead 16120 Pte. S.A. Helds A Coy" [1]. On 4 November the battalion entered front line trenches which were, " ….knee deep in water in many places, both parapets and dugouts were in a very bad state owing to the heavy rain". [2] In late November the battalion, still new to the war, was removed for training in Steenbecque, a few miles behind the lines. Two weeks of company based training was followed by battalion and divisional training. A wet and miserable Christmas day was celebrated in Steenbecque though presents were handed out from the City and County of Nottingham. The battalion band, whose instruments had arrived from the Derby depot just two days previously, provided ad hoc entertainment. On the 31st a new officer. Second Lieutenant Frank Leslie Reynolds from Tibshelf, joined the battalion. By a stroke of fortune the 'Men from the Greenwood' heard that the Sherwood Forester Territorial Brigade (139th Brigade, 46th Division) were billeted nearby at Isberges. Football games were hastily arranged. In a 'home' fixture the 11th Battalion beat the 1/6th battalion 7 v O! However the 'away' fixture, to which the entire battalion were marched, resulted in a 2 v 1 defeat. The pleasurable period of safety in Steenbecue ended on 11 January 1916 with orders to march back to the front line at Rue de Quesne, via Neuf Berguin. It was here, at some point between the 13th and 19th January, that Joseph Stovin was badly wounded, probably by the intermittent shellfire that claimed the lives of 4 other men during this time. On the 20th he succumbed to his wounds and died, aged just 19. [1] 'Soldiers Died' records Private L.A. Heeds of Sheffield as having died on that day. Either the war diary, or (more likely) 'Soldiers Died' has failed to record the death of this unfortunate man accurately. [2] War Diary, 11th Battalion Sources 11th Sherwood Foresters War Diary. Brigadier-General Sir. J. Edmunds, 'British Official History' 'The Men from the Greenwood - Being the History of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters', Percy Fryer Author's notes The above is one extract from the authors developing book on the fates of the men on the Tibshelf War Memorial, tentatively titled 'Faithful Unto Death'. © A.D. Hesketh 2001.