Stanley Charles Oxford

Rank: Driver

Service Number: 254580

Date of Birth: 1899

Regiment:  1203rd Bty, Royal Field Artillery

Date of Death: 18 June 1919

Age at death: 19

Cemetery / Memorial: Buried at Yustezero Cemetery, remembered at Murmansk New British Cemetery

Country: Russia

Grave / Reference: B25

Relatives: Son of Alfred and Catherine Oxford

Address: 1 Red Hill, Hadleigh, Suffolk.

Stanley Oxford was born in Hadleigh in 1899.  He was the son of Alfred and Catherine Oxford and in 1901 the family lived at the Brick Kiln at Red Hill, Hadleigh.  Also living at home at that time was Stanley’s older siblings; Frank (17), Alfred (15), Ernest (12), Bertha (10), Frederick (8) and Arthur (6).  By the 1911 census, the family was still living at the same place, now called the Crown Brick Works.

Stanley was actually the youngest of nine brothers, eight of whom served during the war. Brother Frederick was killed in action on the Somme in 1916 and is remembered with his own page on this website.

Private Stanley Charles Oxford was conscripted and joined the colours in February 1918 and was allocated to the 1203rd Battery of the Royal Field Artillery.  From 1918-19 this unit formed part of the North Russia Intervention, tasked with ensuring some stability in the east following the Russian Revolutions and the collapse of the Eastern Front. 

While in Russia, Stanley was tragically killed in a drowning accident and was buried at Yustezero Cemetery. Although he is remembered with honour at Murmansk New British Cemetery.

Murmansk New British Cemetery was made in 1930. The 40 burials were moved in from the Old British Cemetery that had been used by No 86 General Hospital in 1918-19.The special memorials commemorate officers and men known to have been buried in cemeteries elsewhere in the Murman area. The cemetery now contains 83 burials and commemorations of the First World War.

Another of the Oxford brothers, Alfred Oxford served throughout the war. On his return he married the widow of Private Harry Durrant (Harry’s story is told elsewhere on this website) and they went on to have a child together. Their son was named after Stanley who drowned in Russia. Stanley junior went on to serve himself during WW2. He served in Burma and is seen in the photo below wearing his and his father’s medals at the Hadleigh Memorial Garden on the 70th anniversary of VE day.