Acting Captain Walter Napleton Stone was undoubtedly a very brave man. He was born in Blackheath, the tenth son of Edward Stone, a solicitor and attended Pembroke College, Cambridge before dropping out after only five terms. In the First World War he served as an officer in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers on the Western Front. It has been claimed that by the time of the action which led to him being awarded a posthumous VC, he had already been awarded the DSO and the Military Cross. Strangely however, the Royal Fusiliers museum state that this was not actually the case.
His VC was earned for gallantry during the German counter-attacks at Cambrai in the winter of 1917. He was 25 years old. The citation states that he was commanding an isolated company in front of the Allies main line. He saw the enemy massing for an attack and sent valuable details back to HQ. As the attack developed with unexpected speed, he sent three platoons back and remained with the rearguard. He then stood on the parapet with a telephone, under terrific bombardment, relaying 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 end before being shot through the head (London Gazette 13th Feb 1918).
Stone has no known grave but is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial in France, a family grave in Greenwich cemetery and in St Mary’s church, Shrewsbury. Therein however lies the mystery! What exactly was the link with our county town which led to his name being placed on the parish memorial at St Mary’s? There seems to be no evidence that he ever lived in the town or indeed had relatives here. Suggestions have been made that he either attended Shrewsbury School as a scholar or maybe taught there. The School archivist however has confirmed that neither of these is the case. The local press did not run an obituary and Shropshire Archives seem to have no other relevant records. The possibility of his having undergone military training in Shropshire has been mentioned, but there seems to be no evidence of this either. The only vaguely relevant fact that has emerged is that his maternal grandmother came from Herefordshire.
Better minds than mine have tried to make sense of all this but without any real success. So, if anybody out there knows anything that may shed light on the mystery then please, please get in touch!
Gerald Gliddon has contacted me in relation to this article. He is the author of ‘VC’s of the First World War; Cambrai 1917’ which includes a piece on Walter Stone. The book states that Stone’s family moved to Shrewsbury in 1914 and, although his father died in 1918, his mother lived there until 1936. There is no indication of where the information came from however and the address given in Shrewsbury (21 Vanburgh Park) turns out in fact to be the family address in London. Since then I have consulted Stone’s military record on Ancestory.co.uk but this sheds no light on his Shrewsbury connections and a study of the Kelly’s Directory ‘legal list’ of local solicitors from 1900 through to 1941 has no mention of his father. So, the mystery remains!
