Walker Brothers WW1

[jendoyle]

Hi everyone,

My great grandfather was Henry John Walker. For reference he was a sargeant in the 6th Battalion of the Wiltshire reg, no 8037. He died in WW1 and we have found him on the Thiepval memorial in France.

However, Henry was one of 12- possibly 13 children born to Henry and Harriet Walker of Watchfield. One of those children was Elijah Walker, also served in the armed forces in WW1. So far I have managed to find out Elijah served in the Royal Field Artillary of the British army- he has surviving papers in the W0363 and I know that he survived WW1 as he was a witness to his sister's marriage in 1924 but after that I can't seem to find any trace of him.

Would anyone have come across Elijah Walker in their own research and be willing to share information? I would love to know what happened to him.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
regards,
Jen

[nanny jan]

Hi,

Welcome to Rootschat. 

Do you know when Elijah was born?

[MaxD]

If he is the Faringdon (includes Watchfield) registered birth Q4 1896 then a quick look at FreeBMD finds a marriage to Edith Stratton also Faringdon in Q2 1921 and 3 children thereafter in the Faringdon district 1922-26.

MaxD

[jendoyle]

Hi MaxD

Elijah was born November 1896, baptised on March 1897. I found it listed in the Shrivenham registers with (priv) beside it. I never thought to look towards Faringdon- will follow that up.

Many thanks for your help!

Jen

[MaureeninNY]

I wonder if this is him? He appears to be in Abingdon RD on the 1939 register.

Robert Elijan(looks like Elijah on the image) Walker

Birth Date:   15 Nov 1896
Death:   Sep 1979
New Forest Hampshire

Volume:   20
Page:   0291

Maureen

[jendoyle]

Hi Maureen,
I have not seen Elijah listed with Robert in his name anywhere else but the dates of birth are the same so I will follow it up and see if there is a connection that fits with any earlier data that I have,

Many thanks,
Jen

[MaxD]

A little more for your Walker files:
On the 7th July 1916, the day his death is presumed to have occurred, Great Grandfather Henry's battalion of the Wiltshires was engaged in what became known as the Battle of Albert, one of the early phases of the Battle of the Somme.  His battalion were in a line along the La Boisselle to Contalmaison road (see trench map and present day map at this link):
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=15&lat=50.0248&lon=2.7141&layers=101464804&right=BingHyb
They were attacked from the right and from the north by snipers and artillery fire.

MaxD

[jendoyle]

A little more for your Walker files:
On the 7th July 1916, the day his death is presumed to have occurred, Great Grandfather Henry's battalion of the Wiltshires was engaged in what became known as the Battle of Albert, one of the early phases of the Battle of the Somme.  His battalion were in a line along the La Boisselle to Contalmaison road (see trench map and present day map at this link):
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=15&lat=50.0248&lon=2.7141&layers=101464804&right=BingHyb
They were attacked from the right and from the north by snipers and artillery fire.

MaxD,
Thank you so much for that- we didn't have that information before, this is great! Could you possibly direct me to where I might find some photographs of my great grandfathers regiment? We have no photographs of him, so any help at all would be much appreciated.

Jen

MaxD

[MaxD]

Search Google images with "6th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment" but be careful to check the photo titles as you look at each one. 

http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/research/the-collection/search/category:9/regiment:Wilt/unit:Wiltshire+Regiment%2C+6th+%5BService%5D+Bn

The above link is the search results for images of 6th Battalion at the regimental museum, they can be purchased.
MaxD