Alfred George Stapleton was born in 1899 in Finchley. During the First World War he signed up as a boy sailor in April 1915 and began at the training ship HMS Arethusa on the river Thames. He then joined Admiral Beatty’s battle cruiser HMS Princess Royal in May 1916.
Alfred quickly found himself in the middle of the conflict when he was on the bridge of Beatty’s flagship at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May to 1 June 1916. This was the largest naval battle of the War when the British Home Fleet took on the German High Seas Fleet off the north coast of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. The plan was to intercept a sortie by the German Fleet into the North Sea. With help of a captured code book, the British had decoded the German radio messages and left their bases before the Germans put to sea. The fleets engaged and Princess Royal was hit by two shells in the first three minutes. During the battle she received a total of nine hits and 22 men were killed and 81 injured.
The British had 3 battlecruisers, 3 armoured cruisers, and 8 destroyers sunk. A total of 6,094 Royal Navy men were killed and 674 wounded.
551 Germans sailors were killed and 507 wounded. They lost 1 battlecruiser, 1 pre-dreadnought battleship, 4 light cruisers, and 5 torpedo-boats. Both sides claimed victory. Although the British had suffered heavy losses, they succeeded in containing the German fleet. Following the battle, the German Navy made submarine warfare their priority.
Two years later, Stapleton volunteered to take part in the Zeebrugge Raid. German submarines were sinking large numbers of ships and the Admiralty decided to attack the German base at Zeebrugge-Bruges on the Belgian coast. The plan was to sink British block ships filled with cement in the harbour to stop the submarines sailing into the North Sea.
Diagram of the Zeebrugge Raid
On 23 April 1918 Stapleton was aboard the old cruiser HMS Vindictive whose task was to land troops on the mole - the mile long wall surrounding the harbour. In the darkness the Vindictive came under heavy fire and was forced to land at the wrong part of the mole. The three block ships were not sunk in the best place and the Germans were able to get the port back into operation in a few days. Stapelton was one of the marines and sailors who disembarked on the mole. He fought with ‘conspicuous gallantry’ and was one of the 412 men wounded from the Vindictive, another 176 were killed. Of the total of 1,700 involved in the raid, 227 died and 356 were wounded. The German losses were 8 dead and 16 wounded.
A total of eight Victoria Crosses were awarded by ballot. All the men who took part voted and the medals were awarded to those with the most votes. Stapleton did not get a VC. This was the last time the VC was awarded by ballot.
Stapleton was treated for wounds to his hand and arm at Chatham Naval hospital. He was sent to convalesce at the Chatsworth RN Hospital on the Chatsworth House estate in Derbyshire. During a thunderstorm he became violent, shouting the Germans were coming to get him. The medical officer said he was suffering from shell shock and mentally affected. After his release in September 1918, he went to the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Bakewell where he stayed for 10 weeks under the name Vernon Duncan, ‘a supervisor of German prisoners near Buxton’. He left owing rent of £5 3s 6d.
The next day during the weekend of 13 October, he attempted to break into Hunters Ltd, a grocer shop in Bridge Street Bakewell. Early on Sunday morning a passerby saw Stapleton stuck in the skylight over the front door of the shop and called the police. In court Superintendent Stone said he first gave the name of Vernon Duncan but later said he was Alfred Gerald Stapleton (Gerald rather than George). He had twice tried to commit suicide in the lockup by hanging and then cutting his throat. Stapleton pleaded guilty at the Derby Assises on 8 November. He had only 1s 9d in his pocket. In court William Edward Webb, a provisions merchant, who was on the committee of Training Ships, said he had known Stapleton since he was a boy sailor on HMS Arethusa. When the magistrate heard about his naval record and being wounded at Zeebrugge, he thought the break-in was a temporary mental aberration, and Stapleton was bound over to the care of Mr Webb who said he could stay at his house, 12 West Hill Highgate.
His naval record said Stapleton was invalided out on 19 February 1919 with mental instability.
On 9 November 1919 he married Ruth Elizabeth Brown in Christ Church Barnet. He again gave his name as Alfred Gerald Stapleton instead of George. His address was his parents’ house at 5 Tapster Street Barnet (now re-built), and his occupation was ‘honourable officer’. The couple later had three children: two sons and a daughter.
In 1921 census they were still living in Tapster Street, and Alfred said he was a 2nd Officer in the merchant marines, employed by the Board of Trade at the King Edward Nautical School. This was the King Edward VII Nautical School for Officers founded in 1902 and based over a seamen’s hostel at No.680 Commercial Road, Stepney.
In the early 1920s he wrote to newspapers as Stapleton VC. The Admiralty decided not to prosecute because of his war record, and asked the police to speak to him and he agreed to stop using the title. He earned additional money by working as a golf caddie.
Apparently short of money, in the 1920s Alfred turned to crime and began breaking and entering houses and stealing property. He watched a house, and when unoccupied he forced a rear window with a jemmy.
In October 1922 he was sentenced to three months imprisonment for stealing two suites of clothes and a travelling bag from the home of his benefactor William Webb in West Hill Highgate. In July 1927 Alfred was given six months hard labour for stealing the property of Frederick George Webber of South Mimms. In April 1928 Stapleton was sent to prison for 12 months for theft from the houses of Robert Lennox at 31 Logan Road Wembley, and Annie Mayne of 45 Shire Park Hendon. During his sentence he was certified as insane and sent to the Brentwood Mental Institution in Essex.
In January 1929 he appeared at the Old Bailey under one of his more fanciful names of Leslie Stanmore Holden. Some conjuring equipment was found on him, and he told the police that he was an illusionist. In late December 1928 he had escaped from Brentwood and the next day broken into the home of Mr Greig at 36 Northway Road Neasden. His son William Greig had seen Stapleton leaving the house and chased him for a mile before pinning him down. But Stapleton escaped and was caught by other men who had joined the chase. He was arrested by a police officer in Vicarage Road Willesden Green. At the Old Bailey he pleaded guilty. After hearing about his War record the judge was sympathetic, and said he had little doubt that Stapleton was abnormal due to his injuries. He was sentenced to 15 months and the judge hoped he would receive help in an asylum.
By 1933 we found that the Stapletons had moved to 71 Cavendish Road Tottenham. Three years later Alfred had continued breaking and entering, this time it was the home of a famous man.
George Allison, Arsenal Manager
The Arsenal Stadium Mystery
George Allison appeared as himself in the 1939 film: ‘The Arsenal Stadium Mystery’. This is a comedy film noir starring Leslie Banks and Greta Gynt. It was wonderfully directed by Thorold Dickinson, whose work was admired by Graham Greene and Martin Scorsese.
It was the first feature film related to football and includes footage of the last match played by Arsenal before the War at the old Highbury stadium in Gillespie Road. The plot involves a match between Arsenal and a fictious amateur team called the Trojans. The real match was between Arsenal and Brentford.
George Allison had a major role, and the film includes the Arsenal team of the time. In the film, at half time George says, ‘It’s one-nil to the Arsenal. That’s the way we like it’, a line which helped foster and create the club’s famous ‘One-nil to the Arsenal’ chant. Leslie Banks plays a hilarious police inspector, unlike any other of his major roles where he is rather stern. It is well worth watching, and the whole film is available free on the Internet Archive. A link is shown at the end of this article.
We lose track of Stapleton until November 1966 when he wrote a letter to the Daily Mirror about the Zeebrugge Raid:
‘How pleased I was to read in the Mirror recently about a forgotten war hero who was finally honoured twenty-three years after his death.
In 1918 I was one of a party of men who volunteered for a special operation. Admiral Keyes, the man in charge of the operation, told us our task was to draw the fire of the German guns at Zeebrugge to enable block ships to enter the Bruges canal and seal off the exit to the German U-boat pens. We were told this could mean the loss of our lives and that any man was at liberty to withdrawn from the operation. No one did.
After the raid the Admiralty announced that, as every man had been equally gallant, one of our number was to be chosen by ballot to receive the VC. The rest of us were mentioned in the London Gazette and the event was recorded on our discharge papers.
Each year the Admiralty lays on a frigate for us to visit Zeebrugge and we are given the full honours of the VCs, but in every civvy street we are unsung. It is not the same as wearing the decoration that was earned that night in “Dante Inferno” as we called it.
I just wanted to point out that there are hundreds of unsung heroes in Britain’.
An Alfred George Stapleton died on 10 January 1968 at Shakespeare Road Acton, leaving £621. We believe this was the same man but have not been able to confirm this. His wife Ruth died in Hammersmith in 1964.
Today, Alfred’s ‘shell shock’ would be considered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Defined as a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
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