Profile

WALKER, Alfred
(Service number 7/1918)

Aliases
First Rank Lance Corporal Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 12 December 1891 Place of Birth Fairlie

Enlistment Information

Date 23 July 1915 Age 23 years 7 months
Address at Enlistment Care of Mrs J. Dockrill, Charles Street, Timaru
Occupation Farm labourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Miss M. DOCKRILL (cousin), Charles Street, Timaru
Religion Church of England
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 8th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Date 13 November 1915
Transport Willochra or Tofua
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal
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 10 June 1917 Reason No longer Physically Fit for War Service on Account of Pre enlistment disability aggravated by Active. Service.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Labourer

Death

Date 15 September 1924 Age 32 years
Place of Death Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch
Cause Accidental poisoning
Notices Timaru Herald, 16 September 1924
Memorial or Cemetery Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference General Section, Row 2, Plot 319
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Alfred Walker was born on 12 December 1891 at Fairlie, the second son of James and Sarah (née Bodley) Walker. He was educated at Fairlie and Pleasant Point schools. Alfred’s mother died suddenly in 1904 at their residence in Timaru. His father, who was in Dunedin in 1916, died at the Timaru Hospital in 1921.

Alfred named his cousin as next-of-kin – Miss M. Dockrill, Charles Street, Timaru. This was Mabel, whose mother was a sister of Alfred’s mother. He gave his address as care of Mrs J. Dockrill, Cahrles Street, Timaru – his aunt Alice Dockrill. His last employer was H. Bodley, Te Pohue – his uncle, Henry Bodly. Lfred Walker was invalided to New Zealand per the “Maunganui”, leaving from Devonport on 17 March 1917. He was discharged on 10 June 1917, being no longer physically fit for War Service on acvcount of pre-enlistment disability aggravated by Active Service.

Private Alfred John Walker, of the 8th Reinforcements, died on 15 September 1924 at the Christchurch Hospital, and was interred in the Timaru Cemetery. He was in Christchurch to undergo an operation for a bad leg, having come from the Chatham Islands, and, while awaiting admission, had called at the Heathcote bowling club where a working bee was underway. There he jokingly lifted a gallon jar to his lips, accidentally swallowing some of the mixture – a mixture which was, in fact, weed-killer. Taken to Christchurch Hospital in a bad state, he died a few days later. Before dying he was able to state that “he alone was to blame for what had happened.” It was said that his wife was in Timaru at the time. His wife, Elizabeth Hazel, later lived for some years in Dunedin.

His youngest brother, Joseph Walker (8/2168), was killed in action in 1916 at the Somme, France. Two cousins lost their lives in World War I – Daniel Bodley who was killed in action in 1916 in France and Andrew Henry Robinson who died of wounds in 1918 in France. Additionally, three more cousins served - Edward James Carr (with the Australians), James Robert Bodley and William Moreland. Alfred’s younger brother, Walter James Walker, was called up. Walter, a woollen mill worker, lived in Timaru with his widowed aunt, Alice Dockrill. Walter died in 1932 and was buried with his brother Alfred.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [07 May 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [07 May 2020]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [07 May 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [17 May 2020]; Timaru Cemetery records (Timaru District Council) [17 May 2020]; Timaru Herald, 6 August 1904, 23 & 24 September 1921, 16 & 18 September 1924, Ashburton Guardian, 16 September 1924, Press, 16 September 1924 [x 2] (Papers Past) [17 May 2020]

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC brnach NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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