218168 L/Cpl. Joseph William Stones British Army 9th Btn. Durham Light Infantry (d.18th Jan 1917) Joseph William Stones served with the Durham Light Infantry 9th Battalion. He was executed for casting away his arms on 18th January1917 and isburied in St. Pol Communal Cemetery Extension, St. Pol-sur-Ternoise, France.
The case of Sergeant W Stones - at 2.30am on 26th November 1916 (on the Somme), the British came under heavy mortar fire in thick mist. Stones went out on patrol with a lieutenant and came face to face with the enemy. The lieutenant was shot dead and Stones ran back to raise the alarm. He jammed his rifle across the trench to slow down the pursuing Germans - this cost his life. On return when it was discovered he had no weapon he was arrested with "shamefully casting away his arms". He was later tried and shot.
Lance Sergeant Joseph William Stones (1892 – 18th January 1917) was a British soldier during the First World War who was executed for cowardice. He later became the first Briton so executed to have his name added to a war memorial.
He was commended for his bravery several times, and fought in the Battle of the Somme.
The incident for which he was executed occurred near Arras on 26th November 1916. According to his statement to his court martial, his officer, Lt Mundy, was injured by a gunshot, and ordered him to go for help. He was unable to fire his rifle because the safety catch was on and the cover was over the breech, so he jammed it across the trench to slow down the advancing German soldiers. In spite of Mundy's orders, and a statement from his commanding officer that "he is the last man I would have thought capable of any cowardly action." Stones was convicted of "shamefully casting away his rifle" in the face of the enemy, and sentenced to death. Brigadier-General H O'Donnell upheld his conviction, in spite of his doubts about the quality of the evidence presented. Stones was executed by firing squad several days later alongside John McDonald and Peter Goggins, who had been convicted of abandoning their posts in the same incident. The chaplain who prayed with them before their deaths remarked that he had never met three braver men.
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