136566. Driver Septimus William Ranger Stepney

88th. Field Company, Royal Engineers, 13th. Division. Born and enlisted in Brighton, Sussex. Killed in Action in Sheikh Sa’ad, Mesopotamia on Saturday 19th. August 1916. Grave Marker destroyed by Turkish Artillery and Mortar Fire in the heat of the Battle. Lost Without Trace. No Known Grave. Known Unto God. Commemorated on Panels 5 and 61 of The Basra Memorial to The Missing, Iraq. Son of Mrs. Emily Stepney and the late William Stepney of 18 Lancaster Road, Brighton, Sussex.  Septimus was the only member of the Field Company to Fall on this day. A War Gratuity of £3 was paid to his mother. Septimus is named on The Brighton War Memorial in The Old Steine, and his name appears on the Register of Great War Casualties in St. Peter’s Church in Brighton under “Sappers”. Probate details: STEPNEY Septimus William Ranger of 11 Buxton-road Brighton Died 19 August 1916 at the Persian Gulf Administration Lewes 25 June to Emily Stepney widow. Effects £116 11s. 9d.

Barry Jenkins