Corporal Stanley Whitehouse Annis was born to Herbert and Clara (nee Stanley) Annis on June 4th, 1893, in Caledonia.  He had a younger brother Lawrence, and three younger sisters, Floribel, Amy May, and Winnie. The family was Presbyterian and operated a small farm in Hibernia.  Stanley was 22 years old when he enlisted and was working as a clerk in Caledonia.  He stood 5 feet 7 inches tall (170 cm) and weighed 156 pounds (71 kg), with brown eyes and dark brown hair.      

 

      Stanley enlisted as a Private in the 219th “Overseas” Highland Battalion on March 11th, 1916, and was assigned Regimental number 282705.  His records do not delineate if he enlisted as an Infantryman or as a Clerk. 

 

      While Stanley was waiting to deploy to Europe, his brother, Private Lawrence Annis, perished on September 16th, 1916, near Ypres.  Communication was difficult in 1916, so it is not known if Stanley learned of Lawrence’s death before he sailed one month later. 

 

      Private Annis sailed from Halifax on SS Olympic, arriving in Liverpool, England on October 18th, 1916.  A week later on October 25th, he was appointed Acting Sergeant.  This might imply that he was working as a clerk with enhanced responsibilities.  On January 13th, 1917, Acting Sergeant Annis was transferred to the 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders, often called the “Never Fails”).

 

      The Liverpool Advance notes “He was held in England for a long time as an instructor, a position that he filled so well that the authorities wanted to keep him, but Stan was determined to do his full duty and he was eventually allowed to go across.”  On July 31st, 1917, Acting Sergeant Annis reverted to Private, and proceeded to France as an Infantryman on August 24th to face the Germans in mainland Europe.

 

      The 85th Battalion saw action in Belgium and France throughout 1917 and 1918.  On May 18th, 1918, Private Annis was awarded the Good Conduct Badge and left the trenches for two weeks to train on the Lewis Gun, returning on June 9th.  Private Annis was promoted to Corporal on August 23rd.  Corporal Annis perished in action just one week later on September 2nd, 1918.  While advancing with his Platoon, he was hit by shrapnel from an enemy shell and was instantly killed.  He was 25 years old.  Corporal Annis died in the fierce battle to break the German Defense system known as the Drocourt-Queant Line.  The battle was successful and the village and an overlooking hill were captured, but at the cost of many lives. 

 

      Corporal Annis left his estate to his mother, Clara.  His father, Herbert received the Memorial Plaque and Scroll, and Clara was awarded the Memorial Cross Medal (also known as the Silver Cross).  Sadly, with Stanley’s death, she became a double “Silver Cross Mother” after the earlier death of Stanley’s brother Lawrence, on September 16th, 1916.

 

      As noted by the Advance “He was a very capable NCO, and was full of the spirit and dash that has made Canada’s sons famous the world over.  Stanley was the very soul of honour, a clean, fine type, and a favourite with all who knew him”

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      The Dury Mill Cemetery was begun by Canadian units on September 5th, and marks the final resting place of Corporal Annis and 334 of his fellow soldiers, twelve of whom are unidentified.    He is interred in Plot I, Row D, Grave 23, and his headstone bears the inscription “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS”.  One of those fellow soldiers buried at Drury Mill Cemetery is Lance Corporal John Patterson, also from Caledonia, who died on the same day.  Stanley is also remembered on a family marker at Highland Cemetery on Hibernia Road. 

 

      Corporal Stanley Whitehouse Annis is commemorated on page 360 of the World War One Book of Remembrance.  He is also listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph.

 

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Online References

War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/253704/stanley-whitehouse-annis/

Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24735377/stanley_whitehouse_annis

Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/253704?Stanley%20Whitehouse%20Annis

Canadian Census - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=census&IdNumber=8115384&ecopy=e001975966

First World War Personnel Records Database (file download size 13.5 Meg) - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=pffww&IdNumber=10919&ecopy=212392a

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-arras