Stanley, born in 1896, was the ninth of Charles Ferdinand’s eleven children. The 1911 Census sees Stanley living at home with his parents and siblings aged 15 and working as an Errand Boy at a Boot Shop.
Unfortunately, Stanley’s Service Record has not survived and he was also recorded on some surviving records as Hooghe rather than D’Hooghe.
From one of his Medal Index Cards (MIC) we do see that Stanley enlisted on 17th October 1916 and that he served in 76th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, where he rose to the rank of Bombardier (Corporal).
The 76th Brigade RFA landed in France in September 1915 and was attached to the Guards Division until early 1917. I suspect that it would be early 1917 that Stanley would have arrived in France and joined the Brigade, which had now become an Army Brigade rather than a Divisional Brigade.
As far as I can ascertain, the 76th Brigade saw action in the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, at Messines and in various phases of the 3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), and I assume Stanley served in these actions.
In late 1917, six British Divisions and attached artillery were sent to Italy to bolster the Italian Army’s fight against the Austro-Hungarians.
Stanley was wounded at some point, presumably quite seriously, as he was eventually discharged on 27th January 1919 under King’s Regulation 392 (xvi) ‘No Longer Physically Fit For War Service.’ He was awarded the Silver War Badge for wounds received and this document states that he was Permanently Unfit (PU) and that his wound was received in Italy.
Stanley was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his wartime service.
With the release of the 1921 Census, it is possible to track Stanley to Birkenhead near Liverpool where he is living with his elder brother Claude (1878-1965) – Claude is one of three further brothers along with Henry and Bert who did not serve in WWI – in this Census, both Claude and Stanley are working for William Timpson Ltd, Boot and Shoe Maker.
With Stanley returned to civilian life, in April 1922, he married Gwendoline Williams whilst living in Lancashire.
At some point, they moved back to Nottingham and the 1939 Nottingham Register shows them living at 133 Lenton Boulevard, Nottingham where Gwendoline is carrying out paid Domestic Duties and Stanley is a Lift Attendant at the John Player Tobacco Co. A further register in 1941 confirms their address and Stanley’s work once again.
On September 4th 1940, Stanley was fined 5 Shillings for ‘showing light’ – breaking the wartime blackout regulations!
Stanley died on 30th August 1975 and at his death, his address was 12 Cyril Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham.
