Sir Frederick Wilfrid Scott Stokes, (9 April 1860 – 7 February 1927) was the inventor in 1915 of the

Stokes Mortar The Stokes mortar was a British trench mortar designed by Sir Wilfred Stokes KBE that was issued to the British and U.S. armies, as well as the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, during the latter half of the First World War. The 3-inch trench m ...

, which saw extensive use in the latter half of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was one of the first truly portable

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

. Stokes was born on 9 April 1860 in Liverpool, the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He was educated at

St. Francis Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

and the Catholic University College, Kensington. Following an apprenticeship with the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, he eventually became an assistant to

William Shelford William ("Bill") Thomas Cornelius Shelford (born 1943) is a Deputy Lieutenant for East Sussex. He was the 2009/2010 High Sheriff of East Sussex. He was previously the Senior Partner of CMS Cameron McKenna and before that he was a specialist in ...

working on the designs for bridges for the

Hull and Barnsley Railway The Hull Barnsley & West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company (HB&WRJR&DCo.) was opened on 20 July 1885. It had a total projected length of but never reached Barnsley, stopping a few miles short at Stairfoot. The name was changed to The ...

. He was involved with the construction of the

Aswan Low Dam The Aswan Low Dam or Old Aswan Dam is a gravity masonry buttress dam on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. The dam was built by the British at the former first cataract of the Nile, and is located about 1000 km up-river and 690 km (direct ...

in Egypt, for which he in 1902 received the 2nd class of the Ottoman

Order of Osmanieh The Order of Osmanieh (, Modern ) was a civil and military decoration of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was created in January 1862 by Sultan Abdülaziz. With the obsolescence of the Nişan-i Iftikhar, this became the second highest order ...

from the Khedive of Egypt. A

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

by trade, Stokes was appointed

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Ransomes & Rapier Ransomes & Rapier was a major United Kingdom, British manufacturer of railway equipment and later cranes, from 1869 to 1987. Originally an offshoot of the major engineering company Ransomes, Sims & Jeffries, Ransome's it was based at Waterside Wo ...

, an engineering company based in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, which manufactured cranes. Between 1915 and 1918 Stokes worked for the Inventions Branch of the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

where he invented the

. The trench mortar was first used in 1915 during the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

to fire a smoke shell. At first it was not liked but as the construction was improved it was widely used and eventually produced in two sizes. This mortar continued in use, its effectiveness being improved again and again by other British engineers. Stokes received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1917 for inventing the mortar which was named for him. He was also given several forms of monetary reward by the Ministry of Munitions for his invention including

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

of £1 per Stokes mortar bomb. Stokes married Iren Ionides in 1899. He is buried at

St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake, is a Roman Catholic church in North Worple Way, Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The church is dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. It is located just south of M ...

. His brother

Leonard Stokes Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858 – 25 December 1925) was an English architect and artist. Leonard Stokes was born in Southport (then in Lancashire) in 1858 the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He trained in London and tra ...

was an architect. His nephew

Richard Stokes Richard or Dick Stokes may refer to: * Richard Stokes (politician), British soldier and politician * Richard Stokes (producer), British television producer * Richard Stokes (priest), English Anglican priest * Dick Stokes (hurler), Irish hurler * ...

was a Labour MP and minister.

References

External links

1860 births 1927 deaths British people of World War I British inventors English civil engineers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Engineers from Liverpool Weapon designers Burials at St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake {{World-War-I-stub

See also

References

External links