Profile

WALKER, George
(Service number 6/3910)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Lance Corporal

Birth

Date abt 1887 Place of Birth Otiake, North Otago, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment
Occupation Motor Mechanic
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status
Next of Kin Joseph Walker (father), Otiake, North Otago, New Zealand
Religion
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 9th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company
Date 8 January 1916
Transport Maunganui
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 1 October 1916 Age 29
Place of Death France
Cause Died of wounds
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Caterpillar (New Zealand),Memorial, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval,, Somme, France
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials On Memorial wall, Timaru; Kurow War Memorial (as C Walker?); Fairlie War Memorial

Biographical Notes

George Walker was the son of Mr and Mrs Joseph Walker, of Otaike, North Otago, New Zealand. He attended Otiake School from 1893 to 1897, when he left to work at home. Later it was reported that on leaving home he worked for some time as one of the chauffeurs on the Mount Cook motor service. He went on to somtimes operate as a private chauffeur in Canterbury, and at the time of his enlistment it was reported he was working for Mr Gerard of Snowdon Station.

George enlisted on 20 October 1915. In January he embarked on the HMNZT Maunganui with the 9th Reinforcements, bound for the Suez. He disembarked there in February, joining the 2nd Battalion Canterbury Infantry regiment at Moscar a month later.

On 7 April 1916 George left Egypt for France. He was soon in action - only three months later (27 July) George was admitted to the No8 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) suffering deafness, but was discharged back to his unit about a week later. On 26 September George was promoted to Lance Corporal, serving with a Lewis Gun section.

A matter of days later, George met a fatal end. The Timaru Herald recounted that the news was only recieved home much later, reporting on 5 December: “... Mr Joseph Walker, of Otiake (says our own correspondent), last week received the sad news that his son Lance Corporal George Walker, was believed to have died from wounds while in action on Oct 1st." The report went on to mention his background and stated: "...Lance Corporal Walker was a very steady, industrious young fellow, and was very popular wherever he went." George's parents, no dount distressed at the loss of their son. still had two more sons serving in France - one with the Ninth and one with the Twelfth Reinforcements.

George was buried in the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery in Belgium.

Sources

Cenotaph database (October 2014); Timaru Herald, 5 Dec 1916 (http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/)

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Ann Munro, SC branch NZSG; Tony Rippin, South Canterbury Museum

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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