Raynard Stater – Welsh Regiment, 18th Battalion

Lance Sergeant Raynard Statler – Welsh Regiment, 18^th Battalion

Early Life and Family Background

Raynard Stater was born in 1882 at Swansea, the son of John Henry Statler and Mary Statler.

1891 Census

The 1891 Census records the Stater family residing at 27 Mysydd Terrace, Swansea. John Henry Statler, aged 45 and born in Germany, was employed as an Engine Driver (Stationary). His wife Mary, also aged 46 and born in Germany, managed the household.

Their children were Mary (16) and Julius (16), the latter employed as a General Labourer; both were born in Germany. The younger children, all attending school, were Eda (13), Henry (11), Raynard (9), and Albert (5).

Marriage

Raynard Statler and Eleanor Jessie Harwood
marriage certificate
St Mark’s Church, Swansea
 

In 1906, Raynard Statler married Eleanor Jessie Harwood at St Mark’s Church, Swansea.

Military Service

Raynard served with the Welsh Regiment, 18^th Battalion, attaining the rank of Lance Sergeant. By 1917, the battalion was serving on the Western Front as part of 119^th Infantry Brigade, 40^th (Bantam) Division, holding trench positions in the Champagne sector of France.

During the summer of 1917, the battalion was engaged in routine but hazardous front-line duties around Sorel-le-Grand, including holding and improving trench systems, carrying out reliefs, and maintaining defences under regular enemy artillery, trench mortar fire, and sniping. Although this sector was quieter than major offensive fronts, casualties were sustained steadily through persistent shelling and local engagements.

Death and Burial

On 13^th July 1917, while engaged in these front-line duties, Lance Sergeant Raynard Statler was mortally wounded. According to the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, he died of his wounds on that date.

He is buried at Fins New British Cemetery, Sorel-le-Grand, France, close to where he was wounded.

Later Record

1921 Census

At the time of the 1921 Census, his widow, Jessie Statler, was recorded as residing at 4 Dumfries Place, Mumbles, providing a post-war link between the family and the community commemorated on the Mumbles War Memorial.