41832 Private Stanley Claude GARRAD, was born December qtr 1898 in Somerset, the son of Arthur James GARRAD and Florence Weech of The Saracens Head, Highworth, Wiltshire.
He originally enlisted in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Reg.No. 26303.
He was killed on the first day of the Battle of St Quentin, part of the Battles of the Somme, on 21st March 1918.
The British infantry and the most forward-placed artillery face the "perfect storm" on the morning of 21 March: they are attacked in overwhelming strength in thick fog, wearing gas masks for much of the day, finding that fast-moving enemy infantry has broken through gaps in the defences and is rounding them up from behind. Thousands are killed and more captured. Many garrisons of strongpoints hold out although surrounded, but the Germans drive deep into the British positions in several areas, precipitating retreat and chaos that develops over the next few days.
The area about to be attacked was covered in thick fog, which began to form around 5pm on 20 March 1918. It began to clear during the morning of 21 March, fastest in the north on Third Army's front but persisting in the Oise valley until about 1pm.
Private Garrad has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.
