Stanley was born on 7th February 1914 and enlisted into the 9th Battalion The Sherwood Foresters on 20th June 1940.  In November 1941, his Battalion was re-designated becoming the 112th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps of the 42nd Armoured Division, where he was employed as a driver operator.  Stanley later married Doris Ward in 1937 and was working as a wool and cotton spinner in the 1939 register.  He later served with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and his military conduct on discharge was exemplary. Stanley's testimony reads: ‘He has served in the army for over five years and has an exceedingly fine record.  He is smart, clean, honest and industrious with plenty of drive and authority.  He has a great gift of getting a job done well.  He is thoroughly reliable and trustworthy and very quickly earns the respect of those under him as well as those in authority over him’. 

He was discharged on 20th January 1946