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Major
JOHN WILLIAM STEPHEN LISTER
Royal Engineers
(formerly 1863544 Warrant Officer Class I)  

by

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, PE, MInstRE
Ó 2020.  All Rights Reserved.  

Figure 1.  Major John William Stephen Lister, R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of the Institution of Royal Engineers)  

1.  INTRODUCTION  

            The principal references used in the preparation of this narrative were from a number of sources.  They include census records, official registries in the United Kingdom, medal rolls, family trees, Army Lists, publications of the Institution of Royal Engineers, the London Gazette and various internet sources.  All sources are presented in the REFERENCE section at the end of the narrative and are cited throughout in the ENDNOTES.  Every effort has been made to accurately portray the life and military service of Major Lister.  Major Lister’s service papers will not become available to the general public until after the 15^th of May 2021; that is, after 25 years from the date of his death.  These papers, if available, will provide many details regarding his military service.  If and when they are obtained the information contained therein will be added as an addendum to this narrative.  

2.  EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION  

            John William Stephen Lister’s grandparents were Joseph Lister (1845-1892) and Eliza Lister, née Mason (1846-1903).  His father, John Stephen Lister,[i] was born on the 24^th of October 1870 in Ringmer, near the town of Lewes in the County of Sussex.[ii]

Figure 2.  Eliza Lister (1846-1903).
(Photograph courtesy of the Hunter family tree)

            John Stephen Lister attested for service in the 4^th Dragoon Guards on the 9^th of April 1894 and served in India from about 1895 to 1903.[iii]  For his service he received the Indian General Service Medal 1895-1902 with clasp [PUNJAB FRONTIER 1897-98].[iv]  This clasp was awarded to troops involved in the defense of Shabkadr Fort, the Mohmand Field Force and the Tirah Expeditionary Force.  These operations took place in the Punjab between the 10^th of June 1897 and the 6^th of April 1898.  He returned to England sometime in early 1903

and was mustered out of the Army at Canterbury after 8 years and 322 days of active service, his total time abroad, presumably in India, amounting to 7 years and 310 days.  His attestation required him to serve an additional 3 years and 43 days in the Reserve for a total of 12 years with the Colours.

            On the 30^th of March 1903, while still a member of the Army Reserve, John Stephen Lister joined the Metropolitan Police Force as a Constable, warrant number 89689,[v] and was assigned to the Royal Protection Squad, the elite unit responsible for protection of the royal family and London’s diplomatic community.  He completed his 12 years of military service on the 8^th of April 1906 while serving with the Metropolitan Police and received his discharge from the Army.  About this same time he married Hettie Ann (“Annie”) Bunce at Woolwich.[vi]

Figure 3.  Police Constable John Stephen Lister, circa 1905.
(Photograph courtesy of the Hunter family tree)  

NOTE:  In Figure 3 above John Stephen Lister is wearing his India General Service Medal on his police tunic.  

            The principal character of this study, John William Stephen Lister, was born in London on the 14^th of April 1910.[vii]  The family’s address at the time of his birth was 1 Stanhope Gardens, Kensington SW7.  This address is located near the present Gloucester Road underground station on the Piccadilly Line.  Stanhope Gardens is south of Cromwell Road, north of Old Brompton Road and just west of Queen’s Gate.  It is also located to the southwest of the Natural History Museum.[viii]  The current building at this address is a modern structure.  The old Lister family residence is gone.

            John’s birth was registered in Kensington, sub-district of Brompton in the County of London on the 23^rd of April 1910.  He was baptized on the 29^th of May at St. John’s Parish in Woolwich by Vicar Stuart Churchill.[ix]  

                         The 1911 Census of England and Wales shows the family living at 2 Stanhope Gardens.  Apparently they had moved to an adjacent building after the birth of young John.  Again, the building at this address is too modern to have been the Lister family residence.

1911 Census of England and Wales

NOTE:  The middle names shown in parentheses above were not included in the census document.  They have been added by the author for completeness and clarity.

            The Lister’s daughter, Florence Edith, is shown in the census return as being 5 years old.  The Hunter Family Tree indicates that she was born on the 9^th of January 1905 in Kensington, London; therefore, the family photograph in Figure 5 above can be dated to 1905 with Hettie holding her newborn daughter.[x]  Doris Mabel Bunce was the daughter of James Francis Bunce, the brother of Hettie Lister.

            Young John was only five years old when his father went off to serve in the Great War of 1914-1918.  John Stephen Lister took leave from the Metropolitan Police to enlist in as a Private in the Army Service Corps, Regimental Number R4/089149, and went to France on the 23^rd of April 1915.  He rose to the rank of Corporal during the war and was demobilized on the 28^th of February 1919 and transferred to the Class “Z” Army Reserve.[xi]  On the 12^th of January 1921 John Stephen Lister received the medals that he earned for his service during the Great War.  These included the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, which are shown in the figure below from left to right.

Figure 7.  Medals of the Type Earned by Corporal John Stephen Lister, A.S.C.
(Photograph from the author’s collection)[xii]  

Figure 8.  Medal Index Card of John Stephen Lister (front).
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)  

Figure 9.  Medal Index Card of John Stephen Lister (back).
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

            John Stephen Lister returned to his police duties following the end of the Great War and was posted to F Division (Kensington) as a Police Constable.  He left the Metropolitan Police Force on the 26^th of December 1924 with a pension (Pension No. 27,302) in the amount of £106 3s. 9d.  He was at the time of his retirement 54 years of age and appears to have been suffering from ill health.  He died on the 2^nd of January 1925 at Westminster Hospital in London, only seven days after leaving the police force.  He certainly must have been suffering from a terminal illness at the time of his leaving the force.

Figure 10.  Westminster Hospital, London.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

3.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING  

Enlistment (1924-1928)

            John William Stephen Lister trained and worked as a carpenter until he was 14 years of age when he attested as a Boy Soldier in the Royal Engineers.  This is something that one could anticipate given the circumstances of the family.  With his father deceased there may not have been much of a family income in 1924.  Having the only male in the family join the Army meant one less mouth to feed for Hettie Lister who was then 50 years old. 

            Once in the Army John trained as a Boy Soldier at Gosport in the School of Electric Lighting and at Chepstow in the Army Technical School.[xiii]  On the day of his 18^th birthday, 14 April 1928, Lister enlisted as a Sapper, Regimental Number 1863544. 

Training (1928-1929)

            Upon joining the ranks as a Sapper he was posted to the Chatham depot where he was trained for a year in infantry drill and pioneer duties at the School of Military Engineering.[xiv]        

4.  ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Germany (1929-1934)

            When his training at Chatham was completed Sapper Lister was posted to duties in Germany.  In June of 1931 he was awarded a First Class Certificate of Education[xv] on the results of a periodic examination held by the Council of Military Education.  Apparently he was well-educated and was able to obtain the First Class Certificate directly, without first obtaining the Third and Second Class Certificates.  First Class Certificates were a great deal more difficult and were required for commissions from the ranks.[xvi]  To received this certificate he had to read and take dictation from any standard author; make a fair copy of a manuscript; demonstrate his familiarity with more complicated mathematics and be well versed in British history and geography.[xvii]  On the 6^th of January 1934 Lister was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.

Chatham, Kent (1934-1937)

            Upon his return home Lance Corporal Lister was posted to “M” Company of the Depot Battalion, Royal Engineers at Chatham.[xviii]  The Depot Battalion at the time of Lister’s arrival in the unit was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel D.McA. Hogg, MC, R.E.[xix]   “M” Company was commanded by Captain A.A.C. Walker, R.E.  Within “M” Company, Lister specifically served under Lieutenant P.R.A. Millar, R.E.,[xx] the Officer-in-Charge of Boys Training.  In July of 1935 Lister extended to complete 12 years with the Colours.   On the 12^th of January 1936 he was appointed Temporary Corporal in “M” Company where he served as cadre in the Boys Training section.  He was particularly suited for this posting as he had been a Boy Soldier himself.

            On the 1^st of April 1936, while still serving in “M” Company, Lister was promoted to the rank of Corporal and was selected to attend the Foreman of Works Class No. 90 at Chatham.  He successfully completed this course in August of 1936.  By this time the Depot Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel E.N. Evelegh,[xxi] DSO, MC, R.E.[xxii]  

Figure 11.  No. 90 Foreman of Works Class, Chatham, Kent, 1936.
(Corporal Lister is the last man on the far right in the middle row)
(Photograph courtesy of The Sapper magazine, August 1936.)  

Lichfield, Staffordshire (1937-1939)

            By early 1937 Lister was serving at Whittington Barracks in Stafforshire.  Whittington Barracks was located in Lichfield, just north of Birmingham.  It was the headquarters and depot of the South Staffordshire Regiment and the Prince of Wales (North Staffordshire) Regiment. 

Figure 12.  Corporal John William Stephen Lister, R.E., circa 1936.
(Photograph courtesy of The Sapper magazine, August 1936)  

Figure 13.  Whittington Barracks, Lichfield.
(Postcard photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            Up to this point in his service Lister appears to have been following a path that would have him follow a career path in the Establishment of Engineer Services (E.E.S) of the Royal Engineers.  The term Establishment for Engineer Services or Royal Engineer Works Service was used for a number of years in the 20^th century to describe the duties of the Royal Engineers in connection with building construction and the use of materials. This establishment dealt with the construction of fortifications, but by and large its greatest responsibility was in the area of the construction and maintenance of barracks. Other works undertaken by the Establishment included hospitals and Army Ordnance buildings. With regard to the latter, the work included not only the buildings themselves, but also the provision and maintenance of fixed machinery and the construction and maintenance of magazines and buildings for the storage of explosives, with special attention to precautions against fire and protection against lightning.  Since Whittington Barracks was home to the headquarters and depots of two infantry regiments, it seems likely that the Works. Establishment at Lichfield would have been rather extensive.

            At some time prior to autumn of 1939 Lister returned to Chatham for an advanced Foreman of Works course.  Lister’s service with the Works Service must have been exemplary as he was a Foreman of Works Staff Sergeant at the time of the birth of his son Robert John at Warwick on the 19^th of October 1939.

France (1939-1940)

            Staff Sergeant Lister was assigned to a unit in the British Expeditionary Force in France sometime in 1939 or 1940.  Unfortunately his service papers will not be available for review until 2021 (the 25^th year following his death) so his exact assignment cannot be known at this time.  However, his Memoir posted in The Royal Engineers Journal of August 1996 indicates that he was evacuated at Dunkirk.  More details about his posting will not be available until after the 15^th of May 2021.

Africa, Italy, France and Germany (1940-1945)

            Foreman of Works Staff Sergeant Lister embarked at Liverpool and traveled via Cape Town to Port Suez.[xxiii]  His second period of World War 2 service was not to start in a major theater of the war, but rather in a much more obscure but exotic area.  Much of his war service was in Eritrea, Abyssinia and the Sudan where he worked on the following projects and was responsible for recruiting and supervising large forces of labor consisting of local tribesmen:

• Two dams in Asmara,
• Construction of a large camp at Jebelein in the Sudan for the supply route to the western desert, and
• Road construction and maintenance in Abyssinia.

            During the time that Lister was in Eritrea there were a number of actions fought against the Italian forces there.  One significant action was the battle of Keren.  The battle of Keren (or Cheren, the old Italian spelling) was fought as part of the East African Campaign. The engagement took place from the 5^th of February to the 1^st of April 1941, between a mixed Italian army of regular and colonial troops and British (mostly Sudanese and Indian troops) and Free French forces. The town of Keren, in the colony of Italian Eritrea, was of strategic importance to both sides in 1941. The road and railway through Keren were the main routes to the colonial capital at Asmara and the Red Sea port of Massawa, which surrendered to the British after the battle.

            Ultimately Lister was assigned to the 8^th Army in North Africa and he was with units that worked their way in the push up through Italy maintaining the road systems so necessary for the advance.  At the war’s end he was served in France and Germany.  As with his service with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939 and 1940, the details of his service will not be uncovered until the 25 years since his death have passed.  What is known about this period of his service is that on the 2^nd of October 1942, as a War Substantive Regimental Sergeant Major, Lister was appointed to be a Temporary Lieutenant (Surveyor of Works) (Army Number 274367).[xxiv] 

            During the Second World War quantity surveying was a reserved occupation from the outset and in 1939 firms of quantity surveyors were appointed by the Army to supervise both the execution of works and establishing the costs of the cost plus contracts under which hutted camps were required to house the military. From the beginning of and throughout the war there was a quantity surveying division in the War Office, Directorate of Fortification and Works. In 1926 the Royal Engineers had established the post of Surveyor of Works who was a commissioned officer. These were assisted and supported by civilian staff of quantity surveyors and technical assistants. By 1939 there were about 54 Surveyors of Works and at their peak the number rose to about 280 with about 300 assistants, many served in the Middle East, India, Iraq and Italy.  Lister had worked very hard after enlisting in the Army to educate himself and over the years he had obtained professional qualifications as a Clerk of Works and Quantity Surveyor.  In fact, he was one of the last Quantity Surveyors in the Royal Engineers Works Service before responsibilities were transferred to the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works (MPBW).[xxv]

            On the 20^th of December 1942 Lister was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class II in the Regular Army, having served 11 years and 247 days in the ranks and on the 22^nd of June 1945 he was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class I after only 2 years and 182 days as a Warrant Officer Class II.  For his service in World War 2 WO I and Temporary Lieutenant John William Stephen Lister was awarded the following service medals:

·         The 1939-45 Star

·         The Africa Star with clasp [8^TH ARMY]

·         The Italy Star

·         The France and Germany Star

·         The War Medal

Singapore (1946 -1950)[xxvi]

            Lister was posted to one of the units stationed in Singapore after the war.  The Royal Engineers units there at the time consisted of the Singapore Engineer Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel O.J.R. Orr, R.E.; a map depot; and 2 Air Survey Liaison Section.  The work of the Royal Engineers consisted of refurbishing pre-war barracks at Blakang Mati, Changi, Tanglin, Nee Soon and Gilman Barracks in Alexandria, a subzone region located in the town of Bukit Merah.  Work also included construction of new depots, stores and workshops and accommodation for troops, as well as married quarters, churches, gymnasia, institutes and playing fields, all work suited for a Clerk of Works and Quantity Surveyor.

            On the 13^th of April 1946 Lister completed 18 years of service and became eligible for the award of the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (GVIR) with bar [REGULAR ARMY].  In August of 1946 he re-engaged to complete 22 years with the Colours and on the 4^th of October 1946 he was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant (Regular Army Short Service Commission).[xxvii]

            John’s family was able to accompany him on his posting to Singapore.  On the 23^rd of May 1947 his wife and two sons departed from Tilbury aboard RMS Otranto bound for

Singapore.  The family had been living at the time in Married Quarters at Old Park Barracks in Dover, Kent, probably where Lister had been posted for a while between the end of the war and his assignment to Singapore. 

Figure 14.  RMS Otranto, Tilbury to Singapore, May 1947.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            Lister was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on the 1^st of June 1947 and was then appointed a Temporary Captain on the 2^nd of September.  His wife and two sons arrived at Liverpool from Singapore aboard HMT Empire Halladale, a troopship, on the 27^th of February 1950.[xxviii]  It is not known whether this was the family’s return voyage home following Lister’s posting to the UK from Singapore.  Since the only Lister children shown on the ship’s manifests were his sons, the location of his daughter at this point is unknown.

            For his post-war service in Singapore, Lister was awarded the General Service Medal 1918 with clasp [MALAYA].  This medal was awarded for service in the Colony of Singapore for one or more days of service from the 16^th of January 1948 to the 31^st of January 1959.  The clasp [MALAYA] was awarded for service in Singapore from the 16^th of June 1948 to the 31^st of January 1959.

Home Service (1950-1953)[xxix]

            Lister was posted home from Singapore, but the unit and nature of his assignment are not known at this point.  On the 19^th of September 1951 he was promoted Lieutenant (Quartermaster) and appointed a Temporary Captain (QM).  He was appointed a Temporary Major on the 18^th of May 1952 and the June and July Supplements to the London Gazette (17 June 1952 and 4 July 1952) cite the following, respectively:

“Lt. (Qr.-Mr.) J.W.S. Lister (274367) to be Capt. (Qr.-Mr.) with seniority 19^th Sept. 1951.”

“Lt. John William Stephen Lister (274367) from Serv. Commn.  To be Lt. (Qr.-Mr.), 18 June 1952, with an antedate for seniority purposes only to 19^th Sept. 1951 and precedence next below F.H.B. Climo (422739).”

NOTE:  The promotions and appointments to various ranks are most confusing and typical of the bureaucratic operations of the British War Office.  It also is interesting to note the Lister’s Army Number, 274367, is much lower than Climo’s 422739, yet Lister’s date of rank is below (later than) that of Climo.   

            The confusion persists when Lister reverts to the rank of Captain (QM) on the 4^th of January 1953, presumably from his appointment as a Temporary Major on the 18^th of May 1952 and then he is re-appointed a Temporary Major on the 1^st of May 1954.  Presumably these appointments have something to do with the assignments that he was given during this period, but without his service papers just what these assignments were cannot be known at this time.  From his Memoir printed in the R.E. Journal of August 1996, it appears that some of this service in the UK may have been in Northern Ireland.

Germany (1953-1955)[xxx]

            It appears that Lister was posted to Germany sometime about 1953 and was assigned to the major military headquarters at Mönchengladbach, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.[xxxi]  While assigned there he was assigned to the British Army of the Rhine tendering and letting major contracts and works supervision in both Germany and Antwerp, Belgium.  These assignments were with the Royal Engineers Works Service.

Home Service (1955-1964)[xxxii] 

            On the 30^th of December 1955 Lister was assigned as a Quantity Surveyor, Engineer Staff in the Quartermaster General’s Branch of the Aldershot District.[xxxiii]  In 1960 the responsibilities of the R.E. Works Service to which Lister was assigned were transferred to the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works.  The Supplement to the London Gazette dated 14 March 1961 published the following with regard to Lister;

“Maj. (Q.M.) J.W.S. Lister (274367) retires on retired pay (Reserve Liability).”

His actual date of retirement was the 11^th of March 1961.

            The Regular Reserve of the Army largely consisted of ex-Regular personnel who retained a statutory liability for service and were liable to be recalled for active military duty in case of imminent national danger or great emergency.  Lister was placed in this category in 1961.

            On the 11^th of May 1964 a reduction in the force led Lister to retire from the Army after 37 years of service.  It is assumed that on this date he no longer had a Reserve Liability and he was transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers.  On the 14^th of April 1965 he ceased to belong to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers “having attained the age limit” for service.[xxxiv] 

 5.  PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

Lister received the following promotions and appointments during his time in service:

NOTES:  The Royal Engineers List of 1962 provides the following information in the Retired List of that publication. 

(1)   Date of First Commission: 19 September 1951.

(2)   Substantive Rank: 7 August 1956.

6.  MILITARY TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS  

a.  Military Training: Lister received the following military training during his time in service:

b.      Qualifications:  Lister earned the following qualifications during his time in service.

 7.  MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS  

            Major Lister received the following medals, awards and decorations during his time in service.  They are shown below, from left to right, in Figure 15.

Figure 15.  The Medals of Major John William Stephen Lister, Royal Engineers.
(Photograph from the author’s collection)  

8.  ADDITIONAL FAMILY INFORMATION  

            John William Stephen Lister married Anne Mabel Thomas[xxxv] on the 2^nd of January 1937.  Anne had been a domestic servant, probably in a household in Gillingham, Kent.  At the time of their marriage Anne resided at 40 Parr Avenue in Gillingham.

Figure 16.  The Thomas Residence at 40 Parr Avenue, Gillingham, Kent.
(40 Parr Avenue is the building on the left)
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)  

            The Listers were married in the Parish Church in Gillingham.  Their marriage certificate indicates that Anne’s father, Arthur Thomas, a dockyardsman, was deceased.  Witnesses to the marriage included Lilly Matilda Gill and Hettie A. Lister, the groom’s mother.  As previously indicated, Lister was serving at Whittington Barracks in Staffordshire at time of the wedding.

Figure 17.  The Parish Church in Gillingham, Kent.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            As previously noted, John’s father had died at an early age back in 1925.  His mother, Hettie died on the 15^th of December 1951 in Chelsea, London.  The Lister’s daughter Florence Edith was born on the 9^th of January 1905 in Kensington, London.  She married Sydney McCluan Hunter (1905-2000) and they had two children.  Florence died in Dulwich Hospital in 1995.

Figure 18.  Florence Edith Lister, c. 1925.
(Photograph courtesy of the tree6244 Family Tree)     

            Their first son, Robert John, was born on the 19^th of October 1939 at Warwick Hospital.  Robert John Lister was living in Wilmslow, Cheshire in 1996 at the time of his parent’s tragic automobile accident, which took their lives (see Section 10 below).  The Royal Engineers List of Non-Serving Members and Widows dated December 2019 shows Robert John Lister still living at the same address.  Robert was employed as a computer consultant with Tantalum Computer Services Limited in Wilmslow.  He became the Director of the firm in 1991. 

            Son number 2, David Stephen, was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1946.  He was living in Abingdon, Oxon in 1996 when his parents were killed.  Like his father he became a Quantity Surveyor and is the director of Lister Construction Management, Ltd. in Abingdon, a firm that was incorporated in 2009.         

9.  RELEASE FROM SERVICE

                Major Lister was released from service (the Reserve of Officers) on the 14^th of April 1965, having attained the maximum age for continued service.  His total service was reckoned as shown in the tables below.  Note that without access to his service papers the dates shown in the table are approximate and have been noted by years rather than actual dates; that is days and months.  In some cases the dates represent only partial years.  Also, where Home Service is noted this designation of location had to be used since the non-availability of his service papers do not allow for a precise location.

NOTE: The Royal Engineers List of 1970, page 38 shows his “Years served” as 1951 – 1961.  Since the Royal Engineers list is published by the Institution of Royal Engineers and its membership consists of officers, active and retired, this list only is considering his service from the date of his first commission (19 September 1951) to the date of his retirement (11 March 1961).  Neither his service in the ranks nor his reserve service are included in this “Years served” range.  

10.  POST SERVICE LIFE

            In 1962 Lister and his wife were living at 101 Courtland Road in Iffley, Oxford.  At this time he is shown in The Royal Engineers List of 1962 as a Major (Q.M.) on the Retired List.

Figure 19.  The Lister Residence at 101 Courtland Road, Iffley, Oxford.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)

            In 1964, after leaving the active Army, Lister took a position as Clerk of Works for the Oxford City Council.  He worked on the construction of the new Oxford County Offices which were opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 1976 and he was introduced to Her Majesty during the opening ceremonies.

            Lister had become a Member of the Institution of Royal Engineers immediately upon his retirement from the Army.  He is listed as a retired member in The Royal Engineers List from 1962 through 1995.[xxxvi] 

            On the 16^th of October 1974 the Hertford Construction Services Limited, a private limited company, was incorporated in Oxford.  Although Lister was in “semi-retirement” it appears that he remained active in this family business and served as the Director for a time from the company’s office address at 8 King Edward Street in Oxford.[xxxvii]

Figure 20.  8 King Edward Street, Oxford, circa 2019.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)  

            The last annual return of Hertford Construction Services Limited was made on the 29^th of December 1988 when the company was dissolved.  At this time Lister and his wife were residing at 6 Lovell Close in Ducklington, near Witney, Oxfordshire.

Figure 21.  6 Lovell Close, Ducklington, near Witney, Oxfordshire.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)  

            Following the closing of the family business Lister appears to have fully retired.  He was an enthusiastic gardener and being proud of his military service he remained a retired member of the Institution of Royal Engineers right up until the time of his death. 

            John William Stephen Lister and his wife Anne were tragically killed in an automobile accident in Witney that occurred on the 14^th of May 1996.  Anne Lister died at the scene of the accident and John succumbed to his injuries on the following day.  The accident was publicized in the Witney Gazette of 22 May 1996 and the details are presented in the article below:

Figure 22.  Article from the Witney Gazette, 22 May 1996.
(Courtesy of Mr. R. Peattie of Witney, Oxon)  

            John Lister died on the 15^th of May 1996 from heart failure as a result of the accident the previous day.  His death certificate indicates that he died at John Ratcliffe Oxford, Oxford Ratcliffe Hospital of multiple injuries.  The John Ratcliffe (JR) Hospital is Oxfordshire’s main accident and emergency facility.  It provides acute medical and surgical services including trauma, intensive care and cardiothorasic services.  The hospital is located in Headington, about three miles east of Oxford city center.  As fine a medical facility as it was, John Lister’s injuries, couple with his age, were too serious for him to have survived.

Figure 23.  John Ratcliffe Hospital, Oxfordshire.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            The Lister’s funeral was held at the Oxford Crematorium on the 23^rd of May 1996.  John Lister’s will was probated in Oxford on the 1^st of August 1996.  His heirs specifically mentioned in his will included his wife[xxxviii] and both sons as well as his grandson, Matthew David Lister, to whom he bequeathed his car.  Note that since the will was made in 1992 with no foreknowledge of the impending automobile accident, young Matthew presumably would have inherited the Peugeot, which may or may not have been a total loss in the accident.  The Salvation Army also was mentioned in the will as the recipient of his wardrobe. 

            An inquest was held on the 7^th of August and a death certificate was received from N.G. Gardiner the Coroner for Oxfordshire.  John’s death was registered on the 9^th of August 1996 by Val Farrant, the Registrar for Oxfordshire.

 REFERENCES:

 Army Lists  

1. Quarterly Army List, August 1949, p. 604x.
2. The Army List, 1953, p. 604a.
3. The Army List, 1956, pp. 65 and 604a.
4. The Army List, September 1959, p. 627.

Books  

1. AA Big Atlas of Town Plans, 1992, p. 56.
2. BALL, R.W.D.  British Army Campaign Medals.  Antique Trader Books, Dubuque, Iowa, 1996, p. 65.
3. Bartholomew’s Reference Atlas of Greater London, Tenth Edition, 1957, 37 K.
4. GRIERSON, J.M.  Scarlet Into Khaki: The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War.  Greenhill Books, London, 1988.
5.  History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume VIII, Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1952, pp. 249-267.
6. History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume X, Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1952,pp. 176-178.
7. GORDON, L.L.  British Battles and Medals.  Spink & Son, Ltd., London, 1971.

8. LETTS, C.  Roadbook of Britain.  Charles Letts and Company Limited, London, 1977.

9.      SKELLEY, A.R.  The Victorian Army At Home: The Recruitment and Terms and Conditions of the British Regular, 1859-1899.  Mc Gill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, 1977, p. 94, 95, and 311.  

Census  

1911 Census of England and Wales.  

Correspondence  

1. Letter from A.W. Rolfe to E. De Santis, dated 5 October 1996.
2. Personal communication: Edward De Santis to David Stephen Lister, 27 October 1996, re: Father’s biography.
3. Personal communication: Edward De Santis to Robert John Lister, 27 October 1996, re: Father’s biography.

Documents  

1. Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth, General Register Office, No. BXBY 040318, dated 18 September 1996.
2. Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage, General Register Office, No. MXA 064685, dated 18 September 1996.
3. Last Will and Testament of John William Stephen Lister, dated 6 February 1992.
4. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, No. IAK888311, dated 9 August 1996.
5. Certificate of Discharge, Army Form B. 128.  Private John Stephen Leister.
6. Short Service Attestation, John Stephen Lister, 4^th Dragoon Guards.
7. Metropolitan Police Force Pension No. 27,302, Form No. 575: John Stephen Lister.

Family Trees  

1. Brian Hunter Family Tree.

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/36299680/person/18917176689/facts?_phsrc=iWN1688&_phstart=successSource

2. Family Tree: tree624

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/7670961/person/-1056443194/facts?_phsrc=iWN1694&_phstart=successSource  

Internet Web Sites  

1. Hertford Construction Services Limited

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01187540

2. Officers of the British Army, 1939-1945.

https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_L01.html

3. Regular Reserve (United Kingdom).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_Reserve_(United_Kingdom)  

London and Edinburgh Gazettes  

1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 June 1943, p. 2521.
2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 4 July 1952, p. 3630.
3. Supplement to the London Gazette, 7 August 1956, p. 4533.
4. Supplement to the London Gazette, 17 June 1952, p. 3288.
5. Supplement to the London Gazette, 16 April 1965, p. 3772.
6. Supplement to the London Gazette, 14 March 1961, p. 1912.

Medal Rolls  

1. British War Medal and Victory Medal Roll: John Stephen Lister.
2. Medal Index Card: John Stephen Lister, Corporal, Army Service Corps.

Military Service Papers  

1. Short Service Attestation of John Stephen Lister, 4^th Dragoon Guards (first page only).
2. Certificate of Discharge, Army Form B. 128.  Private John Stephen Lister.

Periodicals  

1. The Sapper, June 1931, p. 312.
2. The Sapper, July 1934, p. 340.  Regimental NCO Seniority List.
3. The Sapper, January 1935, p. 488.
4. The Sapper, February 1935, p. 513.
5. The Sapper, July 1935, p. 667.
6. The Sapper, April 1936, p. 241.
7. The Sapper, August 1936, pp. 14 and 26.
8. The Sapper, February 1940, p. 130.
9. The Sapper, October 1946, p. 48.
10. Witney Gazette, 22 May 1996 (courtesy of R. Peattie of Witney, Oxon).

Registers  

1. 1956 Biographical List of Officer, p. 997.  Officers on Retired Pay, p. 1172.
2. Register of leavers from the Metropolitan Police, National Archives, MEPO 4/347/119.
3. Baptism Record, St. John’s Parish, Woolwich, London, 1910.

4.   England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915: Year 1903.

5.   England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007.

6. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.

7. The Fettes College Register, 1870-1932.  Fettes College, Edinburgh, 1933, p. 233.
8. Cheltenham College Register, 1841-191, G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., London, 1911.

Royal Engineers Journal  

1. The Supplement to the Royal Engineers Journal, August 1996 – DEATHS.
2. The Royal Engineers Journal, August 1996.

Royal Engineers Lists  

1. The Royal Engineers Quarterly List, January through October 1935.
2. The Royal Engineers List, November 1983, p. 42.  Same entries in subsequent years through 1995.
3. The Royal Engineers List of Non-Serving Members and Widows, December 2019.
4. The Royal Engineers List, 1962, p. 41.
5. The Royal Engineers List, 1962 – 1996.

Ships Manifests  

1. Manifest, HMT Empire Halladale, Liverpool, 27 February 1950.
2. Manifest, HMS Otranto, Tilbury, 23 May 1947.

ENDNOTES