Sir Frederick Wilfrid Scott Stokes, KBE (9 April 1860 – 7 February 1927) [1] was the inventor in 1915 of the Stokes Mortar, which saw extensive use in the latter half of the First World War and was one of the first truly portable mortars.

[3] A civil engineer by trade, Stokes was appointed chairman and managing director of Ransomes & Rapier, an engineering company based in Ipswich, which manufactured cranes.

[2] The trench mortar was first used in 1915 during the Battle of Loos to fire a smoke shell.

He was also given several forms of monetary reward by the Ministry of Munitions for his invention including royalties of £1[dubious – discuss] per Stokes mortar bomb.

[2] He is buried at St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake.