WALKER, Leonard Arthur
(Service number 51294; 3/3193)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
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Birth
| Date | 28/10/1896 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
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Enlistment Information
| Date | 27 February 1917; 1 July 1918 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Gibson Street, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Bookseller (for Hutton & Co, Timaru) | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Frederick WALKER (father), Gibson Street, Timaru; Mrs Agnes WALKER (mother), Pareora, via Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
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Embarkation Information
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| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | |||
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| Embarked From | Destination | ||
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| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
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Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
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| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
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| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 5 September 1936 | Age | 39 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Dunedin | ||
| Cause | Heart failure, the result of extensive damage to the heart muscle and valves by a previous attack of rheumatic fever | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Leonard Arthur Walker, known as Len, was born on 28 October 1896 at Timaru, the third son of Frederick and Agnes (née Reilly) Walker. He was educated at Waimataitai School in Timaru, and at the nearby rural Seadown School.
Leonard was a bookseller, residing at Gibson Street, Timaru, when he enlisted in 1917, and had already served with the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment. Having attested in Timaru on 29 January he proceeded to Awapuni Camp the following month and was posted to the Home Services Section of the New Zealand Medical Corps (NZMC), having been assigned the service number 3/3193 and given the rank of Private. On 16 May he appeared before a Medical Board and two days later he was granted a leave of absence due to medical unfitness until receipt of further orders, which came in June 1918 when he was again called up by ballot. On 3 July he entered camp at Featherston, being assigned a new service number, 51294. Assigned as C1 fitness (Garrison service in Home camps) he was assigned to "D Coy C1". Ultimately he was again granted leave of absence (in lieu of discharge) and discharged on account of “medical unfitness” on 20 July 1918, following a Medical Board meeting. Both his Medical Boards noted he had suffered previously from rheumatic fever and related complications.
After the war Leonard married Anne Magdalene Switalla on 10 November 1920 in Timaru. At the time he was listed as a stationary salesman. Having moved to Dunedin Leonard became the President of Dunedin Technical High School Parent's Association 1936, but did not serve for long.
Having suffered rheumatic fever leaving him with extensive damage to his heart, Leonard died of heart failure on 5 September 1936 in Dunedin, aged just 39 years., He was buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.
Leonard’s brother, Norman Trane Walker, also enlisted for war service.
Sources
NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [23 July 2020]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [21 July 2020]; Andersons Bay Cemetery burial record (Dunedin City Council) [23 July 2020]; SCROll submission by J Walker
External Links
Related Documents
Researched and Written by
Tony Rippin, South Canterbruy Museum
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.