Selected Biographies

Dansie, Stanley Smith Ÿ Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 1.10.1898.  Parents: Willie Chevalier Smith Dansie (Railway Porter) and Laura [née Simpson] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Victor Llewellyn Smith Dansie [b1894] and Willie Frederick Smith Dansie [b1896].  Home: 6 Station Road, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), 23 New Park, March, Cambridgeshire (1939) to [1949].  Occupation: Railway Signal Fixer (1939).  Married: Annie Ayres in 1925.  Service Record: Stanley attested as Pte.GS/68704 with 17^th [Service] Battalion [Empire], Royal Fusiliers [City of London] Regiment, later recorded as Pte.GS/127626.  This battalion was stationed on the Western Front as part of 5^th Brigade, 2^nd Division, seeing action during the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and the Arras Offensive in the following year.  In February 1918 the Battalion was moved to the command of 6^th Brigade.  One of the many Melford men swept up during the German Spring Offensive, Stanley was reported missing on 24.3.1918, his fate and whereabouts being unknown until it was confirmed he had been captured in July.  Recorded in the Prisoner of War camp ledger under the name Dancy, he was captured at Pys, five miles west of Bapaume, on 25.3.1918 and taken to Güstrau in northern Germany.  He would have been repatriated in December 1918.  Died: March, Cambridgeshire on 14.7.1949.[1]

Dansie, Victor Llewellyn Smith Ÿ Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 15.12.1894.  Parents: William Chevalier Smith Dansie (Railway Porter) and Laura [née Simpson] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Willie Frederick Smith Dansie [b1896] and Stanley Smith Dansie [b1898].  Home: 6 Station Road, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), 3 Church Walk, Sudbury, Suffolk (1939) to [1981].  Occupation: Navvy (1911), Miller and Malting hand for Fred Branwhite and sons of Hall Street, Long Melford [1916], Storekeeper for an Electrical Suppliers (1939).  Married: Ada Sparkes in 1920.  Service Record: Victor was attested on 15.2.1916 as Pte.11936 with 11^th [Service] Battalion, The Queen’s [Royal West Surrey] Regiment.  In March however his employer Frederick Branwhite applied on his behalf for exemption, which was refused.  Private Dansie was posted to France from 29.8.1916 to 4.8.1917 and transferring on 15.9.1916 to 10^th [Service] Battalion, The Queen’s as part of 124^th Brigade, 41^st Division.  Victor received a gunshot wound to the face on 9.10.1916 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges, and a gunshot wound to the hand on 1.8.1917 during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge.  On 31.8.1917 he was transferred to the 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, The Queen’s, returning to France the following month.  On 28.3.1918 he was injured again, this time receiving a gunshot wound to the left eye, which he eventually lost.  He was returned to England and on recovery transferred on 24.7.1918 as Pte.59308 to 21^st [Service] Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex] Regiment, then on 17.8.1918 as Pte.64915 to 14^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.  His final posting was as Pte.WR/44121 to [Road and Quarry Transport Depot], Royal Engineers, receiving his discharge in March 1919.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 11.8.1981.[2]

Dansie, Willie Frederick Smith Ÿ Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 11.4.1896.  Parents: Willie Chevalier Smith Dansie (Railway Porter) and Laura [née Simpson] (Horsehair Weaver).  Family Connections: Brother to Victor Llewellyn Smith Dansie [b1894] and Stanley Smith Dansie [b1898].  Home: Station Road, Long Melford (1901 to 1939).  Occupation: Coconut Mat Maker (1911), Maltster’s Foreman (1939).  Married: Victoria May Baldry in 1928.  Service Record: Willie attested as Gnr.85956 with the Royal Garrison Artillery, transferring as Spr.310219 to the Royal Engineers, later recorded as Pnr.WR/277448, possibly serving with the Waterways and Railways section.  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1958.[3]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 3.11.1898, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford.  For details of 17^th Royal Fusilier’s movements see War Diaries [WO 95/1350/2, WO 95/1363/1 and WO 95/1372/1]; for the diary of 6^th Brigade see [WO 95/1357/1].  For notification of capture see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 17.7.1918.  For PoW register see International Committee of the Red Cross [file ref: PA34232].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].   Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.  [2] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 3.11.1898, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford.  For the Tribunals ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 22.3.1916.  For details of 10^th Royal West Surrey’s involvement during these battles; respectively part of the Somme Offensive of 1916 and the Third Battle of Ypres 1917, see War Diary [WO 95/2643/1].  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 24.5.1896, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford.  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].