6981654 Stanley SPRAY, 6 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

Trying to trace this man :
SPRAY, STANLEY

Rank: Fusilier

Service No: 6981654

Date of Death: 14/06/1941

Regiment/Service: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 6th Bn.

Grave Reference:

Cemetery: BOUGHTON (ST. MATTHEW) CHURCHYARD

Additional Information: Son of Thomas Henry Spray, and of Johanna Spray, of New Ollerton.

I've had a look on the

​

General Register Office site and can not find an entry of death , has anybody more info please.

 

Birth details:
Name: Stanley Spray
Mother's Maiden Name: Burrows
Registration Year: 1915
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration district: Newark
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Nottinghamshire
Volume: 7b
Page: 952

If you are after his service record then you can apply and use the CWGC info for his death. Often there is no Civil death cert at GRO for someone who died on 'active service'.

TD

 

Thanks for the reply , not sure he was on active service if he was buried in Boughton. I have other death certs for soldiers killed/died in England from one cause or another. He could have been in Scotland as they don't show on the GRO site.

 

His service records would tell you that of course, and yes Scotland is a possibility

Also there is a news article I believe but dont have access:
Genes Reunited

Quote - Previously reported missing, now officially reported missing, presumed killed. SPRAY. —June 16th, 1941 - Unquote

TD

edited to add:
Section is noted as:
:
Nottingham Evening Post Nottinghamshire, England
18 Jun 1941

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES & DEATHS. Births, Marriages, Deaths, Acknowledgments Sympathy, and In Mcmoriam Notices

 

British Army Casualty List No. 543 Dated 19 June 1941
Home (Edit i.e. not overseas)
Died
6th Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
6981654 Spray Fus S – date of casualty 14.6.41

1939 Register
47 Whinney Lane, Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Spray, Thomas Henry (Snr) / DOB 24Dec1879 / Coal miner
Spray, Johanna / 14Jun1887 / Housewife
Spray, Thomas Henry (Jnr) / 18Sept1913 /Colliery wagon ?
Spray, Stanley / 15Apr1915 / Casual railway porter
Spray, Albert Layland / 16Dec1919 / Railway clerk
Spray, Ronald John / 17Feb1924 / at school
Another not identified
Spray, Gwendoline Mary / 21Jan1928 / at school

You are correct in that his death cannot be located in the GRO registers for England & Wales nor is he in the GRO War Deaths (Army – Other ranks) 1939 – 1945.

 

6th Skins were raised at Holywood, co Down in late 1940, moved to Belfast before going onto Bangor and then to Frinton-on-Sea in January 1942 before there joined up with the rest of 38th (Irish) Brigade..they left for warmer climes in November 1942 (source R Doherty, Clear the Way !)

No doubt (and not adding much here), there's a story behind Fusilier Spray's death but given that Boughton/New Ollerton are in close proximity in Notts then in June 1941, he is likely to have been visiting his family...

edit: as noted below, if Fusiliers Spray had died in N.Ireland during a "training" period, then he is likely to have sent back to his home area to be buried.

 

We really need someone with credits/access to obtain the newspaper article - that should tell us more

TD

 

I would suggest he died in a training exercise.
To account for, Previously reported missing, now officially reported missing, presumed killed.
I would say a boating accident the same as these in March 1942.
Four members of 6/Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers who lost their lives as the result of a boating accident in England.

In the next post on this thread.
Accidents/tragedies of WW2
TRAGEDY ON COQUET
ten soldiers lost their lives yesterday on the river coquet, near warkworth, northumberland. they were carrying out exercises in a boat about half a mile south of acklington foundry weir. the river was in flood, and the boat got out of control, was swept over the weir, and capsized. though brave attempts were made at rescue, all were drowned. five bodies have been recovered.

 

For information, the Casualty Lists do have a ‘Died as a result of accident’ category. The four members of the 6 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Brummell, Doyle, McQuire, Stevenson), who died 10 March 1942, are all mentioned on the same list, number 775 dated 19 March 1942, under this category.

The same applies to the 10 who died in the Coquet tragedy; they are all together on list 1663 dated 24 January 1945 under the heading ‘Died as a result of accident’. Note that Ashton & Fredleib were 10th Bn Duke of Wellington's Regt, the other 8 were Durham LI, but attached to 10th DWR.

In the case of Stanley Spray there is a ‘Died as a result of accident’ section on the same page, but he is just classified as ‘Died’.

Just for interest, it proves nothing.

 

The war diary reference number for the battalion has them in the UK during 1942.

 

Not sure that the newspaper article helps in the search for Stanley.

Nottingham Evening Post, Wednesday, June 18, 1941
Deaths
SPRAY – June 16th, 1941, John Wagstaffe, of “Hebroyd,” Farndon-road, Newark, beloved husband of H.A. (Babs) Spray, who died suddenly at Dumfries, in his 54th year. Internment Hockerton, Southwell, on Thursday, June 19th, at 2:30 pm.

Edit
Spray John William Wagstaff of Hebroyd Farndon-road Newark Nottinghamshire died 16 June 1941 at The County Hotel Dumfries Dumfriesshire Probate Nottingham 23 September 1941 to Harriett Adlington Spray widow.

Edit (again)

John WW Spray married Harriet A Wagstaff Q1 1918 Southwell

 

? He was born 1915 and died 1941 - my maths tells me he was 26 years old when he died. The article (dated 18 June 1941) I was looking at states:

TD

edited to add:
Date of newspaper article as above

 

Tricky
The newspaper quote in your post #4 is actually from two separate items. The “Previously reported missing, now officially reported missing, presumed killed” relates to a different person.

Your maths is quite correct, I realised that the notice wasn’t for Stanley, I was just quoting it, as it had been raised, to make it clear it wasn’t him – obviously failed!!!
Regards

 

Wonder if he died with a member of his family ? Be quiet a coincidence for two people with an uncommon surname to die on the same day , both from the same area. Also if they died in Dumfriesshire it would explain no entry at GRO. I've ordered a search for a cert from NI just in case he died there and was repatriated. Not sure if ordering certs from Scotland is the same.

 

Hi Tony

Having now seen the article it becomes clear - thanks for finding and posting it

TD

 

Noggin, Note that the deaths were 2 days apart. Other than the obituary I can find no other reference (search includes Dumfries & Galloway Standard), if it was an accident of some sort perhaps it would have made the papers?

TD, that's the trouble with the text readers they use for these sorts of things, often come up with funny results.

 

GRONI have replied to my search request , death cert in the post. Looks like he died in NI and was repatriated at some point. Should be here before the bank holiday.

 

Got the death cert from NI ( A lot quicker than GRO over here ) Stanley died at Belfast Musgrave Hospital of Osteomyelitis of the Maxilla , infection in the jaw bone caused by dental abscess or trauma allowing bactria to enter the bone marrow. He was buried at the hospital and obviously re interred sometime late back in England.