Stan was born on June 26th 1917 and had six brothers and
four sisters. His father, known as Roll, had moved to Eton Wick as a young
single man in the late 1880s, together with an older married brother from their
parents' home at the Queen's Head, Hazlemere, High Wycombe. Roll met and married
Charlotte (Lottie) Deverill of Chalvey and, like his brother Thomas, raised a
sizeable family spread over many years. The family home was at No. 1, Palmer
Place and the road along the side of No. 1, leading to Common Road, was always
referred to as Bonds' Lane. It came as a local surprise in the mid 1930s when
the Eton Urban Council erected a name plate as Browns' Lane. It is now all part
of Common Road.
The father, Roll, earned his living as a refuse collector,
as a cabbie (horse) and a jobbing carter. Stan went to the Eton Wick Infant
School until he was nearly seven and then attended Eton Porny between April 1st
1924 and July 29th 1931, when he left school to work in the expanding family
business. His brothers were older than himself and, by the early 1930s, were
road haulage contracting with horses and tip carts. They secured a large
contract connected with the expansion of Cippenham and soon replaced the horses
with lorries. The large family had known days when the next meal had to be
earned but now the situation was much improved.
Unlike the short Bond stature, the offspring were of
Lottie's build, big and robust. Roland (Junior), William, Robert, Cyril and
lastly Charlie, had all married in the 1930s and early 1940s and left home.
Their parents moved into a new detached home in the Boveney end of the village,
and named it “Rollot". Stan courted and married Brenda Elsia Allen of
Dorney and made a home at Taplow. His sister Florence had married Norman Lane
of Eton Wick. Norman was to play a significant role in the future post war
expansion of the family business.
The war clouds broke in September 1939 and different
priorities affected business, and more importantly the work force. Many men
voluntarily joined the forces rather than wait uncertainly for conscription
into a unit not of their choice. Roland had served in the Royal Navy throughout
the Great War at a time when his brothers were not old enough. In a very short
while Bill, Cyril and Stan were in army uniforms. All had chosen to serve with
the Royal Engineers. It was probably in early 1941, while Stan and Cyril were
working in the same unit, when Stan expressed boredom and his decision to
volunteer for a posting nearer "the action". This was a fairly common
wish among young men throughout the services. It is not known whether he was
already in North Africa, but certainly by the summer of 1941 he was serving in
the Levant.
Wavell had limited resources under his command which
consisted of the 7th Australian Division, the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade, part
of the 1st Cavalry Division, six Battalions of the Free French forces, and a
company of tanks, together with 70 aircraft. Opposing them were Vichy French
forces (35,000 men), 18 Battalions, 90 tanks and 90 aircraft. The initial
advance was held up 10 miles from Damascus, but by June 21st 1941 fresh
reinforcements were becoming effective and on this day the Indian troops
captured Damascus. On July 12th Vichy forces surrendered in Syria.
Unfortunately Stan was killed five days earlier, on July 7th
1941. His death was not directly caused by enemy action. At the time he was
with comrades riding on the rear of a tank transporter. The side of the vehicle
left the track, and the men were thrown off with the transporter rolling onto
them. Stan is buried in the Damascus Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Syria.
His grave is number 44 in Row L. He was 24 years old and left a childless
widow. The Damascus War Cemetery contains 1,173 Commonwealth graves. Stanley is
commemorated on the Eton Wick Memorial in the churchyard and on the tablet
attached to the Village Hall.
The first cross above marks the grave of Corporals Bond and
Smart and the second of Stanley Bond alone. It is believed that the double
grave was the roadside grave dug by their comrades. Later they were buried
separately in Damascus and the second cross was a temporary measure pending an
official post war C.W.G.C. headstone.
This is an extract from Their Names Shall Be Carved in Stone
and published here with grateful thanks to the author Frank Bond.
Further information: The 1939 Register records that Stanley Bond was a excavator driver (Heavy work) before he joined up. His widow, Brenda married Frederick Usher, a Canadian serviceman in 1943 and moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada after the war had ended.
Frank Bond, author of Their Names Shall Be Carved In Stone was one of Stanley Bond’s second cousins.
No comments:
Post a Comment