Captain Stanley Whitaker Moss-Blundell (1883-1963) enlisted in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and joined the 1st Battalion in France on 26th May 1915. He had earlier served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Londonderry Artillery, but had resigned his commission on 13th February 1901. The only surviving army records concern his medals and these are recorded under the name Blundell, whereas in the 1911 census he was Moss-Blundell.
At that time he was a fruit grower on Longdon Hill, having been born in Ferriby, North Yorkshire, in 1883, the youngest of three children of Edward and Helen Moss. By 1892, the whole family had adopted the surname Moss-Blundell. Stanley’s grandfather, William Henry Moss (1816-1874), had married Eliza Charlotte Blundell (1818-1888), from a paint manufacturing family in Hull. It may have been part of the terms of the will after his grandmother’s death and the estate was sorted out that the two names were combined as all of William and Eliza’s children and grandchildren took the name Moss-Blundell.
The 1st Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry left France, from Marseilles, on 26th October 1915 and disembarked at Salonika, Greece on 7th December to take part in the Balkans campaign. They left Greece in June 1918, arrived in Taranto, Italy on 2nd July on route to France where they were attached to the 50th Division. It is not known if he was with his unit for all of this time.
Moss-Blundell applied for his medals in February 1920 and received all three service medals – the 1914/15 Star, British and Victory medals. At that time he was living at Laurel Bank, Saltash, Cornwall but gave his permanent address as St Malo, Osborne Road, Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. He had sold his property at Wickhamford on 24th March 1914.
Stanley’s name appears in the London Gazette in 1940 having rejoined the Army on 3rd July 1940, whilst in his mid-50s.