Ancestral Trails 2016 » Arthur WALKER (1892-1916)

Personal data Arthur WALKER 

• He was born on November 13, 1892 in Pirton, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.Sources 1, 2, 3
• He was baptized on April 2, 1893 in St Mary the Virgin, Pirton, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.Source 3
• Profession: in the year 1911 Farm Labourer in Great Green, Pirton.
• Education: between 1895 and 1896 School Admission, living The Green.
• (Attestation) on August 31, 1914 in Pirton, Hertfordshire-1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment.
• He died on September 18, 1916 in Died of wounds, Pas de Calais, France, he was 23 years old.Sources 1, 5
• He is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
• A child of George WALKER and Sarah ODELL

Household of Arthur WALKER

He is married to Rose MALES.

They got married on November 22, 1915 at St Mary the Virgin, Pirton, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, he was 23 years old.Source 6

Child(ren):

1. Stanley Arthur MALES  1915-1984 

• The couple has common ancestors.



Notes about Arthur WALKER

1901 aged 8, living near Great Green with his parents, George and Sarah Walker, and siblings Frederick, Gertrude, Sidney and Herbert. 1911 aged 18, living at Great Green, Pirton with his siblings, Herbert and Gertrude Walker. 1916 Private 2364. 1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment. Died of wounds Monday 18 September 1916. Age 23. Born, lived and enlisted Pirton. Son of George and Sarah Walker, of Pirton; husband of A. Walker, of Pirton, Hitchin. Buried: BOULOGNE EASTERN CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. Ref. VIII. C. 143. SOURCE www.roll-of-honour.com OUR WAR MEMORIAL SO MUCH MORE THAN NAMES ARTHUR WALKER A TRAGIC DEATH LEAVING A WIFE AND CHILD This article was first published by the Pirton Magazine in April 2004, and is provided courtesy of the magazine, the editor Derek Jarrett. Further acknowledgments appear at the end of the article. ARTHUR WALKER The way in which families were interwoven in our village ninety years ago, can only be understood by those who lived in Pirton near to those times. So, when news of a casualty came through from France in the Great War, many villagers were hugely affected; families previously living a quiet, if generally humble existence, were suddenly torn apart from what was happening on the Western Front. This was never more so than with the death of Arthur Walker. Arthur was the youngest of six children born to Sarah (nee Odell) and George Walker. George, like the great majority of village men, was a farm labourer, whilst Sarah added to the modest family income by straw plaiting. The family lived in Bury End, at what is now the home of their granddaughter Mavis Baines; indeed the house (no. 6) has now been with the same family for over 120 years. By the time Arthur was 18, both his parents had died, buried in St. Mary's churchyard. By the time War broke out in 1914, both his sisters were married. Alice had married Joseph Davies and they lived on Great Green, whilst Gertrude married Charlie Baines and continued to live at the family home, caring for her unmarried brothers and her own family. Arthur married Rose, daughter of George and Annis Males. It is believed the family lived in one of the cottages near the Fox, now the home of Rita Chambers (part of 41 High Street, which used to be two cottages). Members of Rose's family kept the Old Hall Pub (now Docwra Manor in Hitchin Road). Arthur and Rose being very much the same age must have known each other since childhood. They had one child, Stanley** born near the time of the beginning of the War. Sadly, their lives were to be fatally changed when Arthur enlisted in 1914 as Private 2312 with the 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment. As one of the Territorials he was, in fact, the first of the Pirton 'terriers' to go to France. Just 21, Arthur went to the Front in November 1914. By the beginning of 1916, all four Walker brothers were fighting for their country. As a local newspaper recorded in the manner of those times, ``Pirton is showing up well in the patriotic families of the country". Frederick, aged 34, was with the 11th Hussars, Sidney, aged 27 with the Artillery, whilst Herbert, 25, and Arthur were both with the 1st Hertfordshire Regiment. The 1st Herts was a closely-knit regiment, in particular G Company which was made up of men from the old Hitchin and Stevenage Companies. Within G Company there were several Pirton men who had known each other since attending the village school together and had already served through dangerous and harrowing times. Maybe Arthur was a person who made light of the dangers he faced, maybe the last thing he wanted was to cause anxiety to his wife Rose back in Pirton. Whatever his true feelings, he wrote home on 4th January 1916. He wrote that the Company, "are all alive and kicking and in the best of health. We can all think ourselves lucky to be in good health after being in so much mud and water for eight days". "Lucky" would hardly seem a word for the awful circumstances in which the men were living at the Front. Of Christmas Arthur wrote quite cheerily, but in such a way that ninety years later shows us the awfulness and stupidity of war. "At Christmas we were happy all the time; and had a good sing-song to keep the Germans in good spirits, for they could easily hear us, as their trenches were only twenty yards away in one place. But the Germans were careful not to show their heads for us to get a shot at them." Arthur, on behalf of all the 'Pirton boys' made time to pass on the thanks to Thomas Franklin for the presents sent out to them. Thomas was the grandfather of Joy who lived in Pirton until she died a few years ago and Dick who lives at Pegsdon Common Farm. Many villagers had devoted great time and energy to making articles suitable for combating the awful conditions in France. As 1916 gathered pace, the two sides became even more locked in dreadful battle with just a few yards gained in a day counting almost as a 'major victory'. In a letter home, written some time in 1916, Arthur said that his group had been through two great battles, described the time as 'nothing less than hell'. They had been in the firing-line for thirty-six days with only one day out.' The Pirton boys came through all right' he added. September of that year found several of the Pirton men together at the front. On the 10th of that month, some in G Company were under heavy fire and a shell killed one of the Pirton men, Pte John Parsell. Two other village men who were within yards of him were wounded - Pte George Roberts & Private Arthur Walker. George Roberts injuries were serious but not life-threatening - a flying fragment of the shell causing facial damage. The injuries to Arthur Walker were to prove fatal - but not for eight days. Sometime after 10th September Pte Goldsmith writing home said that he didn't know what had happened to the wounded Arthur Walker, "As when he left the trenches everything was in a state of confusion". In Pirton, Rose along with other wives, sweethearts, parents and siblings must have been used to waiting anxiously for any news from the Front. Letters took varying lengths of time to arrive and we do not know when the letter telling Rose of Arthur being wounded reached her. One wonders whether it was before or after his death. The day after Arthur received his injuries, the Rev E J Welsher, chaplain of the French hospital which received him wrote "Dear Mrs Walker, Your husband was brought in wounded yesterday and he thinks you might worry until you hear, so he has asked me to write and so relieve your mind. He has asked me to say you have no need to worry, that he is doing quite well and hopes soon to be on the way to the base of England. Of course, he is feeling bad, but as far as we can see there is nothing serious, so we trust that all will be well. I will let you know as soon as I know how he is progressing, and I hope that he will soon be well enough to travel, and that you will have the pleasure and joy of seeing him, as he longs to get home. He sends his best love to you all, and I pray that the Heavenly Father may be with you, blessing and helping you." Whether the letter to Rose sought simply to stifle anxiety (a not unknown, if mistaken, tactic in war-time) or whether Arthur's condition rapidly deteriorated, we will probably never know. There is even some uncertainty what caused Arthur's injuries. Some reports assume injury from the shell, which fatally killed his colleague John Parsell, but a subsequent newspaper article wrote that he died from "gun-shot wounds in the shoulder, head and wrist´´. But whatever the cause, Arthur Walker died of his wounds eight days later, on 18th September 1916. He was 23. He was buried: Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Ref VIII. C. 143 And so, at least five Pirton families - the Walkers, Davies, Males and Odells and Baines - all suffered a tragic loss with the death of Pte Arthur Walker; whilst others in Pirton lost a dear friend. ** Stanley, the only child of Arthur and Rose, lived in Pirton with his wife Mabel and two sons until the last few years of his life when he moved to Luton to be near his eldest son. Arthur's three brothers - Frederick, Sidney and Herbert all survived the War. Some time after the war, Rose married Arthur's brother, Herbert, and lived on in Pirton for the rest of her life in their home in the High Street. SOURCE: www.pirton.org.uk *** For help with this article we thank: Clare Baines, Denise Marshall, Lynda Smith www.roll-of-honour.com, Rita Chambers, Helen Hofton and Jonty Wild.

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to Arthur WALKER?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!




Timeline Arthur WALKER

  This functionality is only available in Javascript supporting browsers.
Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children