Pte
Stanley Charles Beer

Information about birth

Year of birth:
1891
Place of birth:
Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom

General information

Profession:
Painter

Army information

Country:
Wales, United Kingdom
Force:
British Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
46534
Enlistment place:
Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
Units:
 —  Welsh Regiment, 2nd Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
17/11/1917
Place of death:
Auber Junction, Jonkershove, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
26

Cemetery

Poelcapelle British Cemetery
Plot: XVII
Row: D
Grave: 18

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 3

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place
#3 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Stanley Charles Beer, a 26-year-old painter from Swansea, Glamorgan, was killed in the aftermath of the Battle of Passchendaele. He left behind his young wife, Beryl.

At the time of his death, Stanley served in the, 2nd Battalion Welsh Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, of the 1st Division.

Stanley’s Battalion was attached to the 1st Brigade on 14 November 1917 and moved into the Brigade’s frontline on the 15th. The 2nd Welsh took up positions between Sourd and Source Farm, on the Goudberg, north of Passchendaele. The line was a string of shell holes in a wet and boggy landscape. German aeroplanes controlled the sky above the Passchendaele Ridge. They documented the allied positions, which were constantly shelled by the German artillery

On the 17th, 10 other ranks of the 2nd Welsh were killed by German shellfire. Stanley Charles Beer, 26, was one of the men killed in action on 17 November 1917. According to his Burial Return Sheet, Stanley’s remains were exhumed near Auber Junction in the Houthulst Forest, which was in German hands. He now rests in Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

Files 2

Sources 5

"Welsh at War. Through Mud to Victory: Third Ypres and the 1918 Offensives. John S. Barnsley, Pen & Sword Military, 2018, dl 3, pg. 56-61.
Sources used
Ancestry
http://www.ancestry.co.uk/
Further reference
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results?firstName=Stanley%2BJones&lastName=Beer&serviceNumber=46534
Sources used
The long long trail
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Sources used
War Diaries
http://www.nmarchive.com
Further reference