Captain Claude Wilfred Stanton Monmouthshire Regiment
Killed in action 8th May 1915 AGE: 24
Claude was the son of Joseph Wilfred and Blanche Isabel Stanton. He lived at Mathern House with his parents, two sisters and a younger brother. His father was a partner in the law firm Morgan Francis, Stanton and Parnall of Newport and Chepstow (the firm still has an office in Welsh Street today) and Claude himself was studying for the Bar. In the spring of 1914 with the rank of Lieutenant he was active in the recruiting campaign of the Regiment: “He was a fluent speaker and his father had good reason to feel proud of him. Tall and well set up . . . .” (Weekly Argus 22nd May 1915).
He must have been one of the most prominent young men in the Chepstow area, for early in 1915 he was appointed to be Clerk to Chepstow Rural District Council, in spite of being away in France – the appointment to take effect when he returned from the War. Claude had joined E Company of the 1st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment when it was first formed as the Territorial unit for Chepstow and left Chepstow with the main Company in August 1914.
Claude had the reputation of being not only talented but a very generous and caring young man. At the beginning of December 1914 he was gazetted Adjutant to the Monmouthshire Regiment and within a few days was promoted to Captain (Capt. Stanton has proved himself a most capable and efficient officer . . . .)
His father died in March 1915 and Claude was not able to return for the funeral. Then as the involvement of the 1st Monmouthshire’s in the War became more intense he wrote to his mother including the famous words quoted in the press report opposite.
A few days later he was caught up in the disaster of May 8th – the desperate defence of the Ypres Salient. During the fighting at close quarters he was last seen wounded in the fire trench (the front one). In the confusion that followed it was hoped that he had been taken prisoner and would survive, but it seems that he died later in the day. His grave is not known and his name is recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial. His medals would be the 1915 Trio.
Extract from the report of the memorial service held in Mathern church from the Weekly Argus of 29th May 1915