Frederick Stevenson

Jersey's Great War heroes:

Vernon and William Andrews

Frederick Stevenson was killed attacking a protected German position similar to this

This is one of a number of articles published by the Jersey Evening Post on 10 November 2018, the day before the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War. They tell the stories of a number of Jerseymen and Jerseywomen who were distinguished by their bravery during the war. Some survived to recount their own experiences, others perished in the conflict and never saw their native island again.

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A lieutenant who led his men over the top in France, only to find that the barbed wire surrounding the German position was uncut, was shot by a machine gun as he tried to advance.

Soldier at 14

Jerseyman Frederick Stevenson was an experienced soldier and highly regarded by his men. He had joined the 6th Dragoon Guards at the age of 14, and from January 1900 he served in South Africa, including during the Boer War. Over the following years he served in India as a trumpeter, then as a Lance-Corporal and a sergeant trumpeter, before returning to South Africa.

The Dragoons were in England when the Great War broke out, and he arrived in France in August 1914. The 6th Dragoons' battle honours for 1914 show: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne, Aisne, La Bassée, Messines and Armentières.

In November 1916 he was moved on attachment to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards and recommended by the commanding officer for commission. Four months later he became a 2nd Lieutenant in the 22nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers.

He was put through a bombing course before leading his men for the first time on 29 April 1917, when they attacked the German lines at Oppy Wood, near Arras in France. Led by the subaltern officers, the two companies were formed up in waves, covering the whole front, and went forward when the barrage opened.

But when the reached the barbed wire in front of the German trenches they saw that it was uncut. By the time gaps were found the Allied barrage of the trenches had ceased and they were left exposed to rifle and machine-gun fire, and bombs, as they desperately tried to cut the wire.

Colleague's account

Lt Stevenson was among those who disappeared while in action. Private G H Austin, who had been serving with him, gave an eye-witness account after the conflict. He said:

'I saw Lt Stevenson killed at daybreak in front of Oppy Wood. We all went over the trench together and found the German barbed wire was not cut. I saw him shooting with his revolver at a German machine-gunner who was playing on us. Lt Stevenson was shot through the head by a German machine-gun bullet and killed at once.

'We had to leave his body there and retire. I am quite sure he was dead. He was the finest officer we had, and we felt it very much.'

The name of Lt Frederick Stevenson of the Royal Fusiliers is one of those etched on the Arras Memorial.