Stanley Florence

Corporal, Royal Engineers

Age 13, Class III A: 'Has done fairly well. He seems to try.'

Stanley Florence, who was a student at Alleyn’s until 1909, was 21 years old when he joined the Army in February 1916. Before the war, Stanley worked as a chemist and volunteered with the Territorial Force as part of the 18^th County of London (London Irish). When war broke out in August 1914, the men of the TF Battalions were also given the opportunity of serving overseas. This saw Stanley enlist in the regular Army in February 1916. With a clear background in chemistry, he was allocated to the Royal Engineers Chemical Section and arrived in France a month later. He served on the Western Front for the majority of the war, assisting with gas operations offensively and defensively before he was wounded while serving in June 1917 as a result of a shell bursting near his left leg. He survived the war and after being discharged returned home to his parents, David and Mary, in Hawarden Grove, Herne Hill.