Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Henry Stenson, a joiner, born 1871 in Loughborough, Leics., and his wife Fanny Stenson (nee Wardle, married in the 2nd quarter of 1893 in the Loughborough, Leics. district), born 1870 in Loughborough, Leics. Harry was born on the 28th October 1895 in Loughborough, he had one sibling, a sister Elsie, born 1894 in Loughborough, Leics., in March 1901 the family home was at 7, Hume Street, Loughborough, Leics. In April 1911 Harry was employed as an apprentice carpenter to his father and was residing in the family home at 8, Hume Street, Loughborough, Leics., together with his father, a carpenter, his mother and siblings, Elsie, a wool trade turner, Albert, born 1902, Lily, born 1905 and Arthur, born 1910, the latter three siblings were all born in Loughborough, Leics. Harry enlisted into the Royal Navy to serve a 12 year engagement on the 12th July 1913, his reckonable service to commence on the 28th October 1913, he was allocated the service number J/25584 in Portsmouth, Hants. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 3¾ inches in height and had a chest measurement of 34¼ inches, his hair colour was dark brown and his eyes were brown, his complexion was described as fresh, it was noted that he had a mole on his left shoulder, he gave his trade or calling as joiner. On attaining the age of 18 his re-examination recorded his height as 5 foot 4½ inches and his chest measurement as 35 inches. His record of service began when he joined HMS Vivid I as a Boy 2nd Class on the 12/7/13 – 2/10/13. HMS Donegal, 3/10/13 – 15/10/13, when he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. HMS Donegal, 16/10/13 – 21/12/13. HMS Russell, 22/12/13 – 11/1/14, when he was promoted to Ordinary Seaman. HMS Russell, 12/1/14 – 15/2/14. HMS Victory I, 16/2/14 – 9/3/14. HMS Iron Duke, 10/3/14 – 19/9/14, when he was promoted to Able Bodied Seaman. HMS Iron Duke, 20/9/14 – 16/5/15. HMS Excellent, 17/5/15 – 13/8/15. HMS Victory I, 14/8/15 – 12/11/15. HMS Queen Mary, 13/11/15 – 31/5/16, when he was killed in action at the Battle of Jutland.
The background relating to the circumstances in which Harry lost his life are as follows. Steaming in advance of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe’s Grand Fleet, Beatty’s battle cruisers, supported by the battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron, collided with Vice Admiral Franz Hipper’s battle cruisers in the opening phases of the Battle of Jutland. Engaging at 3.48 pm on May 31st, the German fire proved accurate from the outset. At 3.50 pm, HMS Queen Mary opened fire on SMS Seydlitz with its forward turrets. As Beatty closed the range, HMS Queen Mary scored two hits on its opponent and disabled one of Seydlitz’s aft turrets. Around 4.15 pm, HMS Lion came under intense fire from Hipper’s ships. The smoke from this obscured HMS Princess Royal forcing SMS Derfflinger to shift its fire to HMS Queen Mary. As this new enemy engaged, the British ship continued to trade hits with Seydlitz. At 4.26 pm, a shell from Derfflinger struck HMS Queen Mary detonating one or both of its forward magazines. The resulting explosion broke the battle cruiser in half near its foremast. A second shell from Derfflinger may have hit further aft. As the after part of the ship began to roll, it was rocked by large explosion before sinking. Of HMS Queen Mary’s crew, 1,266 were lost while only twenty were rescued. Though the Battle of Jutland resulted in a strategic victory for the British, it saw two battle cruisers, HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary, lost with nearly all hands. An investigation into the losses led to changes in ammunition handling aboard British ships as the report showed that cordite handling practices may have contributed to the loss of the two battle cruisers.