Lives of the First World War

When Victor Stanton’s father, Noah Frederick Stanton, died in September 1932 he was buried in the churchyard of St Peter’s, Sharnbook, Bedfordshire (Noah was born in the nearby village of Colmworth). The grave memorial, a granite rough-hewn plinth and cross, also commemorates Victor Stanton. The inscription reads - ‘Also in loving and honoured memory of Lt. Victor George, R.A.F. youngest son of the above who fell in action in France and made the supreme sacrifice, 29 March 1918, aged 25 years. Victor’s mother, Fanny Annis Stanton, was interred in this grave in July 1950. ‘

Victor George Stanton is commemorated on the war memorial in front of All Saints Church, Ravensden. The simple but elegant memorial consists of a grey granite rough-hewn cubic plinth surmounted by a tapering column. Victor’s father, Noah Stanton, was sub-postmaster at Ravensden from 1912 until his death in 1932 and the post office was the family home prior to Victor emigrating to Canada. Victor is listed along with eleven other men from the parish who lost their lives in WW1.

2/Lt Victor George Stanton in RFC uniform, Bedford.

Left to right: 2/Lt Victor George Stanton (RFC), Sgt William Stanton (British Army Labour Corps) and Sgt Horace Frosel Stanton (Canadian Mounted Rifles). Horace Stanton emigrated to Canada in 1907, he enlisted in the Army in April 1915, was wounded at Vimy Ridge in April 1917 and subsequently retrained as a physical training instructor. This reunion probably took place in their parent’s home in Ravensden, Bedfordshire with the studio photograph taken in nearby Bedford.

The memorial card for Victor George Stanton reads: ‘In Affectionate Memory of Victor George Stanton, 2nd Lieut. R.F.C. who died from fall and burns at Templeux la Fosse, Peronne, France March 29th 1918 aged 24 years. Youngest son of Noah and Fanny Stanton of Ravensden, Bedford. Deeply regretted and never forgotten’. This is one of the few examples where Victor Stanton’s age at death is given as 24 years which is correct. Most records and memorials give his age as 25. Victor George Stanton was born on 24 October 1893 (birth registered in the fourth quarter of 1893) and was killed on 29 March 1918.

Verse from memorial card, author unknown.