Hannaford, SJ

2nd Lieutenant Stanley John Hannaford

Born on September 24th 1896 in Chulmleigh, Devon, Stanley was the son of property surveyor Charles Hannaford and his wife, Annie. He joined Dulwich at the beginning of 1913 from a small boarding school in Exeter and went on to be a pupil for two years. He was a member of the rugby 2nd XV in his final year, but was to achieve much more prominence in athletics, dead heating for the 100 yard dash title in 1914 before, the following year, winning outright the 100 yards, as well as the hurdles and the high jump – the performance meant that he tied with Paul Jones for the Challenge Shield, awarded to the outstanding all-around athlete on the day.
After leaving Dulwich in April 1915, Stanley went on to Sandhurst, passing out later that summer in order to take a commission in the East Lancashire Regiment. He was subsequently sent to Plymouth to continue his training, where the following year he was the winner of the Hurdles Race (Officers) during the United Services athletics meet. He went to France for the first time in September 1916, and had been at the front for just over a year when, on October 5th 1917, he fell in action at Langemarck, near Ypres.