Born: 24th September 1921
Story
Stanley lived at 6 Park Avenue, and was the first son born to Sidney Smart (1888-1967) and Mary Ellen Cannon (1892-1978), who married in 1916. The couple had a second son Jack on 28th June 1924. Both Stanley and Jack worked as motor coach trimmers before the war. Stanley served in Saudi-Arabia, and whilst there he met fellow Kippax villager, Corporal Herbert Blakeley. They both working on an anti-locust campaign, which was reported on 19th January 1945.
The Second World War coincided with a severe outbreak of desert locust in the Middle East, which posed a great threat to supply lines to the Middle East: any food shortage caused by locust swarms would need a large importation of relief aid that would depend on an already overburdened shipping network that was vital for military supplies. With the famines caused by locusts in Syria during the First World War still in living memory, the need to control the pest took on even greater importance for the British and their allies. In 1942, the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit (MEALU) was established with the mission of nullifying locust swarms at the source: their breeding grounds.
The first locust ‘combat’ missions were sent to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Kuwait and Oman in 1943. By using poison bait and chemical sprays from aircraft, these missions were a great success, and prevented any major outbreak in the region for the duration of the war. The success helped contribute to the Allied victory in the Second World War, yet it made no headlines and earned no medals or citations for anybody.
After the War, Stanley married Margaret A Prince in 1948, and the couple lived at 88 Westfield Lane for many years, until Stanley passed away on 13th April 1997.
Below: a soldier wearing a gas mask whilst the R.A.F. undertake a chemical spraying during the War.
Kippax Roll of Honour 