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NGER Frank
Private 18446 Lincolnshire Regiment
Frank was born in 1887 in Kings Cliffe, another son of William
and Marianne Stanger. Frank, the second youngest of the
Stanger boys, was the third to enlist.
We know that, by 1911, he had moved to London and was living
in a company hostel with 80 other employees who worked as
porters for Cook Son & Co in Southwark. Cook’s was a well
established clothes wholesaler concentrating on warehousing
and distribution. They employed salesmen, who travelled the
country with their samples taking advantage of the new rail
network. The porters, no doubt, worked in the warehouses
bringing in new bulk stock and shipping orders. By the time he
joined up in 1915, Frank was back in Kings Cliffe and declared
himself to be working as a foundry labourer.
He signed up in Stamford on 13th July 1915, joining the
Lincolnshire regiment as Private 18446. He was then 28 years
old, still single, and the war was a year old. His younger brother
George who had joined nearly a year before was still in England
and had seen no action. Frank was 2in (5cm) taller than George
and more stockily built. For Frank, however, there was to be no
long training period. The supply system was now in full swing
and within 4 ½ months he was sent out to reinforce the rest of
the 6th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, whose numbers were
being decimated at Gallipoli.
He shipped out of England on 25th November 1915 and
fortunately missed the worst of the fighting. By the time he
reached the battlefields, the Lincolnshires were preparing to
evacuate. They left Suvla Bay in January 1916 having fought
for five months.
This campaign was the first that included the Australian and NZ
troops in WW1 and it features strongly in their history. However,
not in any way to belittle their sacrifice, there were far more British
troops and casualties at Gallipoli. The Allies had some 265,000
casualties of which 213,000 were British. Of these, 145,000 were
hospitalised for illnesses and not deaths or wounds.
227
Private 18446 Lincolnshire Regiment
Frank was born in 1887 in Kings Cliffe, another son of William
and Marianne Stanger. Frank, the second youngest of the
Stanger boys, was the third to enlist.
We know that, by 1911, he had moved to London and was living
in a company hostel with 80 other employees who worked as
porters for Cook Son & Co in Southwark. Cook’s was a well
established clothes wholesaler concentrating on warehousing
and distribution. They employed salesmen, who travelled the
country with their samples taking advantage of the new rail
network. The porters, no doubt, worked in the warehouses
bringing in new bulk stock and shipping orders. By the time he
joined up in 1915, Frank was back in Kings Cliffe and declared
himself to be working as a foundry labourer.
He signed up in Stamford on 13th July 1915, joining the
Lincolnshire regiment as Private 18446. He was then 28 years
old, still single, and the war was a year old. His younger brother
George who had joined nearly a year before was still in England
and had seen no action. Frank was 2in (5cm) taller than George
and more stockily built. For Frank, however, there was to be no
long training period. The supply system was now in full swing
and within 4 ½ months he was sent out to reinforce the rest of
the 6th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, whose numbers were
being decimated at Gallipoli.
He shipped out of England on 25th November 1915 and
fortunately missed the worst of the fighting. By the time he
reached the battlefields, the Lincolnshires were preparing to
evacuate. They left Suvla Bay in January 1916 having fought
for five months.
This campaign was the first that included the Australian and NZ
troops in WW1 and it features strongly in their history. However,
not in any way to belittle their sacrifice, there were far more British
troops and casualties at Gallipoli. The Allies had some 265,000
casualties of which 213,000 were British. Of these, 145,000 were
hospitalised for illnesses and not deaths or wounds.
227
