Captain Staniland's Journey by Martin Middlebrook

Author:Martin Middlebrook
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780850529968
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books

Why was Lance Corporal Kent involved? Before the war he had worked with his father at their monumental mason's business near Boston Cemetery. Undoubtedly the Kents had many dealings with Meaburn Staniland, the local solicitor who handled the estates of deceased clients and who was the town clerk whose department allocated burial plots in the cemetery. William Kent had been a pre-war Territorial in Captain Staniland's company. The two families were probably also friends, although Meaburn Staniland, at thirty-three, was ten years older than William Kent. His pre-war association with his dead company commander and his familiarity with funeral procedures made him an obvious choice to be detached from trench duty to take part. He may have inscribed the two wooden crosses being prepared to mark the graves. His tiny diary, which never goes into detail, merely has ‘Captain Staniland’ for the day of his company commander's death. There is no indication in any diary or document, or in any letter home quoted in the local press, as to when the burials actually took place.

One surprise had greeted the burial party at Dranoutre. When the 1/4th Lincolns left that area in June to move up to the Ypres Salient, the narrow strip of ground at the side of Dranoutre churchyard had only contained the graves of five officers, four from their own battalion and one from the divisional Royal Engineers. But, since then, other units had added nine further British graves. The first three of these had been of officers, in what had been intended to be an officers-only plot, but then battalions of the 28th Division had buried six private soldiers because all other spaces in the churchyard had become full. So, whereas Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Staniland's had been the first grave in that head-to-toe line, his brother Meaburn had to be buried in the fifteenth grave space, a hundred yards further back. Second Lieutenant Fox was buried behind Captain Staniland and a lance corporal of the 2nd Buffs (The East Kents), who died the day after the two Lincolns’ officers, was buried behind Second Lieutenant Fox. It is not known who conducted the burial service for the two Lincolns’ officers. Perhaps the Buffs’ lance corporal shared a funeral service with them. They were the last British soldiers to be buried in Dranoutre churchyard.

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