Walter Napleton Stone

Walter Napleton Stone VC (December 7, 1891 - November 30, 1917) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was born in Blackheath, London.

Details

He was 25 years old, and an Acting Captain in the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, British Army, attached 17th (Service) Battalion during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 30 November 1917 in the Cambrai Sector, France, Captain Stone, commanding an isolated company 1,000 yards in front of our main line, saw the enemy massing for an attack and sent invaluable information to battalion headquarters. He was ordered to withdraw, leaving a rearguard to cover the withdrawal. As the attack developed with unexpected speed, he sent three platoons back and remained with the rearguard. He stood on the parapet with the telephone, under terrific bombardment, sending back vital information until the line was cut on his orders. The rearguard was eventually cut to pieces, and Captain Stone was seen fighting to the last.

Further information

There is a memorial to Walter Napleton Stone in Greenwich Cemetery, south-east London. The actual grave has never been located and he is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing.

Greenwich cemetery is misleadingly named; it is actually off Well Hall Road, Eltham, which is part of the South Circular near where it crosses Shooter's Hill. The War Memorial in the centre is exceptionally large, probably because it is close to the Sidney Herbert military hospital (now converted to luxury flats) and the Woolwich Barracks (which probably soon will be given the way defence spending is going).

About thirty yards in front of the War Memorial is a group of graves of the Stone family. On the largest are the names of Walter's parents, and underneath the inscription: :"also in memory of Lt Col Arthur Stone DSO, 16th Lanc Fusiliers, second son of the above, killed October 2 1918......; and Capt Walter Napleton Stone VC, 17th Royal Fusiliers, fifth son of the above, killed Bourlon Wood, France, November 30 1917, presumed buried by the Germans near Moeuvres."

W. N.Stone VC is listed as a parishioner on parish cavalry war memorial in the Trinity Chapel of The Collegiate Church of St Mary the Virgin Shrewsbury.

References

*"Elegant Extracts" - The Royal Fusiliers Recipients of the VC (J.P. Kelleher, 2001)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)