BORN HULL 1891. SON OF MARY ANN WESTELL (1852-1949)& LATE THOMAS WALLACE TURNBALL (1849-1915), OF 13, BEECH GROVE, PRINCES ROAD, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS). A TIMBER YARD LABOURER. HIS FATHER WAS LOST AT SEA, ON THE VESSEL “LUCIDA”, ON 31/01/1915, AGED 65.
HE ENLISTED IN HULL. LANCE CORPORAL, STANLEY TURNBULL, OF THE 4TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, DIED OF GANGRENE 0N 14/11/1918, THREE DAYS AFTER THE ARMISTICE, AGED 27.
HE LEFT SEVEN LETTERS AND ONE RECEIVED BY HIM ABOUT LIFE AT THE FRONT, WHICH ARE KEPT BY THE HULL HISTORY CENTRE.(L920.TUR). THE LETTERS SPEAK OF AWFUL CONDITIONS IN THE TRENCHES “MUD AND WATER EVERYWHERE…. WELL OVER THE KNEES IN SOME PARTS” (JAN 15TH), AND OF THE DANGERS “WE ARE IN A PART OF THE LINE THAT I WAS IN NO WAY ANXIOUS TO SEE AGAIN”. LEAVE WAS ALSO SCARCE, THE LETTER MAY 14TH SHOWS HE HAD NO LEAVE FOR 18 MONTHS. THIS LETTER ALSO REVEALS THE LOSSES SUFFERED BY THE HULL BATTALIONS, “I WAS AMONGST TWO OF OUR SERVICE BATTS, ABOUT A MONTH AGO, BUT STRANGE TO SAY SAW HARDLY ANYONE I KNEW. THEY, LIKE OURSELVES ARE A MIXTURE ON MANY BATTALIONS.”
