Stanley Alfred Miles is my great grand uncle, he was the youngest but one of seven children to George and Rosina (Hawkins). Stanley was born in India in 1896 and came from a military family. Therefore on the 11th November 1914 he signed up with "C" coy, 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry with his older brother Clifford (my great grand father). At around 22:30 on the night of 8th August 1916 just as Stanley's battalion was being relieved on the front line by the Rifle Brigade a gas attack was made. Because the men were in marching order the hissing of the gas was never heard and the 'gas alert' had been taken off by Higher Command earlier that day. H coy were hit the hardest and had very little survivors. the gas used was a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, being the first occasion the Germans had used phosgene, nothing was known of its deadly after effects. Men who had had a mere whiff of the gas or had been in close proximity to a casualty brought back were dying from gas wounds and the 9th of August seen many more victims to the attack the night before. Stanley is buried at Ferme-Olivier Cemetry near Ypres and I have been lucky enough to pay my respects to the man himself by visiting his grave in 2012.
Joanna Miles