Pte Stuart John Webb, 42358, 2/7th Battalion Manchester Regiment, died in the 26th General Hospital at Etaples, France, on October 23rd, 1917, from gunshot wounds sustained at the Front on October 8th. He was aged 21 and had seen only seven months service in the Army.

Stuart had three times been rejected for military service owing to a weak heart, but in March 1917 he joined the Northamptonshire Regiment (No. 45954) as a private. After three months training he was drafted to France with the Manchester Regiment.

On October 8th he was wounded by gunshot in the ankle and leg, wounds initially described by the War Office as mild. But relieved parents George Henry and Elizabeth Webb, of 10 Westbourne Road, Luton, shortly afterwards received a letter from the 26th General Hospital at Etaples to say his wounds were causing Stuart a lot of trouble and it was anticipated he would have to lose his leg.

On October 23rd came a further letter saying that Stuart had died that day and he had been buried in a little cemetery behind the hospital.

An old boy of Christ Church School and a keen swimmer who, along with his brothers had won many medals in the sport, he was employed by George Kent Ltd before joining up.

Brother George, aged 22, was at the time serving with the R.A.M.C., attached to the Essex Regiment, but was in hospital in Egypt suffering from rheumatism; while brother Bernard, aged 20 and a sergeant with the Machine Gun Corps, was serving in France after having been invalided home from Gallipoli suffering from dysentery. Youngest brother, Cyril, aged 15, was in the Bute Hospital in Luton suffering from the results of a bad attack of pneumonia.They had a sister, Florence.