Category: Military
Rank: Private
Regiment or Ship: Royal Sussex Regiment; Machine Gun Corps.
Service Number(s): G/12697; 27181
Occupation: Newsagents Assistant
Date of Birth: 1900
Place of Birth: Stoke St. Mary, Suffolk
Date of Death: 1971
Place of Death: Hastings, Sussex
Address: 5 Springfield Road, Bexhill on Sea
Photos and newspaper articles
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Family Information
Parents: William Bridgeland (1871-1943) and Mary Bridgeland, nee Gallop, (1866-1949).
Siblings: Reginald Frederick Bridgeland (1908 – ).
First World War Experience
Stanley, like a lot of men during this time, lied about his age when he enlisted on 12th November 1915. He stated that he was 19 years and 2 months old when, in actual fact, he was just 15. At the time of his enlistment he was 5’ 5¾” tall and had a 32” chest measurement – expansion 3”. He was a member of the Church of England and his next of kin was his father, William.
Initially Stanley was posted to the Royal Sussex Regiment but, on 16th November 1915, he was moved to the Machine Gun Corps.
On 17th April 1916 he was under reprimand for “overstaying his pass from 2am until answering his name at 9pm on 18th”. For this offence he was confined to barracks for seven days.
It was reported in the local newspaper on 1st December 1917 that Stanley had been wounded in action on November 4th in Palestine. Apparently, he had been there for about three months.
Nothing further is known about Stanley’s war service apart from the fact that he was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.