BORN HULL 1891. SON OF RICHARDSON STOTE & SARAH ANN WALEA, OF 7 GEORGE’S AVENUE, LAKE STREET, HULL . HIS HOME ADDRESS WAS 8 GRAHAM’S ROW, ALMA STREET, DRYPOOL, HULL. (HDM 01/01/1917). HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PAL. REPORTED MISSING AND THEN KILLED IN ACTION, ON 13/11/1916, AGED 25.. THE WALES FAMILY ALSO LIVED AT 67 EXCHANGE STREET. HIS SISTER, MRS SLINGSBY, LIVED AT 7 PERTH VILLAS, PERTH STREET, HULL AND REQUESTED INFORMATION ON HER MISSING BROTHER IN THE HDM 06/01/1917.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE WILLIAM STOTE WALES 12/568. Born in April 1891, William was the youngest of four children to Richardson and Sarah Ann Wales of 7 Georges Ave, Lake Street, Hull. A barman by trade, he enlisted at City Hall on 23rd September 1914 joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment- ‘The Sportsmen’- 3rd Hull Pals. The now familiar path of training throughout 1915 before leaving Devonport bound for Alexandria, Egypt that December; a posting protecting the Suez Canal from potential attack, followed by the news they were leaving for France. Hard to imagine what must have gone through their minds on hearing this news. They could hardly be naive of the news reaching them as rumour and hearsay, but they could also, much like ourselves today, be easy prey for newspaper nationalism and propaganda. I’m sure some, as they boarded ship in Port Said on February 29th 1916 couldn’t wait to get ‘stuck into the bosch’; while others whispered a prayer and hoped for the best. They landed at Marseilles on March 8th and took the troop train north to Armentieres and the trenches of the Western Front. William was killed in action on 13th November 1916 at Beaumont Hamel on the Somme. He is buried in Euston Road Cemetery; he was 25 years old.
