b. 07/1890 Ecclesall, Yorkshire. d. 02/11/1966 Ramsgate, Kent.
DATE OF EM ACTION: 02/04/1916 Faversham, Kent.
John Morley Stebbings was born in Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield, Yorkshire, in July 1890, and by the outbreak of the Great War was living in Ramsgate, Kent. His parents were John and Hannah Stebbings (nee Patchett), and he had two siblings, Hedley and Helen. Following the outbreak of the Great War he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Territorial Force on 12 May 1915, for service with the Royal Field Artillery. Posted near to Faversham in Kent, Stebbings was awarded his Edward Medal for his gallantry during the horrific explosion at the Explosion Loading Company’s Works at Faversham on 2 April 1916, an incident that incurred heavy loss of life. Subsequently sent out to France in January 1917, he was awarded the Military Cross for his services with C/293rd Army Brigade, R.F.A., and was Mentioned in Despatches by Sir Douglas Haig (London Gazette 21 May 1918). Invested with his Edward Medal at Buckingham Palace in July 1919, Stebbings maintained his links with the Territorials and was awarded his Efficiency Decoration while serving in the 59th (Home Counties) Field Brigade, R.A. (London Gazette 13.8.1935). The previous year he had married Doris Percy Chalmer in London, and they had two children, Angela (born 1920) and John Chalmer (born 1924).
Posted overseas with the 89th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, R.A., on the renewal of hostilities, Stebbings was Mentioned in Despatches for his services in the Middle East between July and October 1941 (London Gazette 16 April 1942) but, like many thousands of others, was taken Prisoner of War at Tobruk. Interned in Italy he somehow found his way to the Vatican City, from where he was repatriated in the final year of the War.
On the re-formation of the Territorial Army in 1947, Stebbings was appointed Joint Honorary Colonel of the 489 Heavy Artillery Brigade at Ramsgate, an appointment he held jointly with Sir Winston Churchill, in his capacity of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Advanced Honorary Brigadier, he was subsequently awarded four Additional Award Bars to this Efficiency Decoration (all London Gazette 16 March 1962). A Deputy Lieutenant for Kent from July 1957, he died at Ramsgate on 2 November 1966.
EM CITATION:
Also to Lieutenant John Morley Stebbings, Corporal Charles Ashley, Bombardier Bert Dugdale, Acting Serjeant Charles Thomas Harris, and Acting Bombardier Arthur Frederick Edwards on account of their gallant conduct in assisting in the rescue work on the occasion of the explosion which occurred at Faversham on the 2nd April, 1916.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PRIVATELY HELD. SOLD AT DNW FOR £6,000 IN FEBRUARY 2021.
