Background

Stanley George Young was born on April 23, 1897 in the small community of Taymouth, York County, New Brunswick just north of Fredericton, to Annie Gertrude Richardson and Charles Duncan Young, both Methodists. According to his attestation documents, Stanley had hazel eyes and brown hair and was approximately five feet seven inches tall. Census records reveal that he had two older sisters named Layla and Alice Louise. Alice, who would have been 21 years of age when Stanley enlisted, would later become a teacher and marry Henry G. Beacom in the summer of 1925. At a young age his family moved to Fredericton and occupied a residence at 338 Westmorland Street. Newspapers reveal that Stanley attended Fredericton High School, graduated and became a clerk. At the time he enlisted in Sussex, New Brunswick on November 8, 1915 he was 18 years of age and was unmarried. Although his motives for joining the CEF are difficult to know and understand, it was probably like most young men at the time who felt that the war would offer adventure, glory and would be short-lived. Over time, this perception of the war would be challenged. It is likely that he was both excited and nervous for the experience ahead, not knowing what he would experience in the near future.

Wartime Experience

Stanley George Young embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia for England with the 104th Battalion in the summer of 1916 on the sister ship of the Titanic, the SS Olympic. He arrived in Liverpool, England a week later on July 6, 1916 and was sent to Whitley Camp, being appointed Lance Corporal and where he would serve most of his time in training. Almost a year and a half later, Stanley was transferred to the 13th Reserve Battalion in Seaford before proceeding to France with the 26th Battalion, also known as the Fighting 26th, in the early part of 1918 to help combat the German spring offensive, fighting in the field for the first time. On August 14, Stanley was shot in the hand and was sent to the 4th Canadian Field Ambulance, was hospitalized and then sent back with his unit nineteen days later. On October 10, during the Allied push for Cambrai, Private Young's service record reveals that he received multiple gunshot wounds in his left arm and shoulder and was subsequently taken to Number 22 Casualty Clearing Station before being struck off strength and admitted to the Pavilion General Hospital in Brighton, England. Nearly three weeks later, as Canadians and their Allies would continue to push the Germans out of France and Belgium, Stanley would become dangerously ill and pass away at 11:55pm on the evening of November 4, 1918. He would succumb to his injuries just four days before the armistice to end the war. Stanley was 21 years of age. News of his death would be reported in New Brunswick papers by November 8, 1918.

Lest We Forget

Stanley George Young is buried and remembered with honour in Brighton City Cemetery alongside the tombs of 275 other Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery is located in Brighton, Sussex, England, just south of London. Stanley also has a headstone in his hometown of Fredericton New Brunswick, in the Fredericton Rural Cemetery.