William Stansfield (19 November 1874 – 19 May 1946) was a British-born Australian railway officer in the Queensland State Railways who joined the Australian Army and served in Gallipoli and the Middle East during the World War I.

Early life

Stansfield was born in 1874 at

Wadsworth Wadsworth may refer to: People * Wadsworth (surname) * Wadsworth (given name) Places * Wadsworth, Illinois, United States, a village * Wadsworth, Kansas, United States * Wadsworth, Nevada, United States, a census-designated place * Wadsworth, ...

, Todmorden, Yorkshire, the son of the bootmaker Mitchell Stansfield and Margaret Ann Stansfield (née Forrester). He was a descendant of the Stansfield family of

Stansfield Stansfield is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located seven miles south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2011 its population was 221. The village has an Anglican church dedicated to All Saints. ...

, Yorkshire. The family emigrated to Queensland in 1887. Stansfield was educated at Kelvin Grove State School, Brisbane, and worked for the Queensland State Railways from 1898 to 1914. Anzac Cove1

Career

In 1900, Stansfield enlisted in the Moreton Regiment, transferring to the Australian Army Service Corp in 1905, becoming a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in 1911. He enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and was appointed brigade supply officer of the 1st Light Horse Brigade. Landing in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

in May 1915, he commanded the beach supply depot of the New Zealand and Australian Division. Stansfield was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1916, when

Sir Harry Chauvel General Sir Henry George Chauvel, (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War ...

formed the ANZAC Mounted Division in Egypt in March 1916, and was in charge of supplies during the operations of 1916–17 which defeated the Turkish advancement towards Suez. Stansfield rose to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and Chauvel promoted him to be his Assistant Director of Supply and Transport for the Desert Mounted Corps from 1917. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in December 1917. During 1918, Stansfield supplied the Desert Mounted Corps in the Jordan Valley and during the battle at Megiddo and the capture of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and

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. For his 'continuous zeal and ability', Stansfield was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and was mentioned in dispatches three times between 1917 and 1919. Discharged in 1919, Stansfield returned to the Queensland State Railways.

visited Brisbane later that year, and approached the head of Queensland's railways who promoted Stansfield to Inspector of Passenger Rolling Stock from 1920. During the Royal Visits of The Prince of Wales, Prince Henry and The Duke and

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title held by the wife of the duke of York. Three of the eleven dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, whilst two of ...

in 1927 and 1934, Stansfield was the State Transport Officer for Queensland. Stansfield joined the 1st Division, Australian Military Forces, in 1921 He was promoted from

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1922. He was awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration (VD). He retired in 1937 as honorary colonel, but returned again as lllAssistant lllDirector of lllRemounts, Northern Command, in 1939, and as lllLiaison lllOfficer for lllCivil and lllMilitary lllDefence and finally retiring in 1941. Stansfield died on 19 May 1946.

Family

Stansfield married Amy Louisa Rogers in 1897 and they had 5 children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stansfield, William 1874 births 1946 deaths Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British emigrants to Australia Military personnel from Yorkshire Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army officers