I’ve been spending a little time, this wet half-term, researching the First World War exploits of my grandfather, Frank Sydney Walker (1897-1984). Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August and Frank entered the “theatre of war” in France/Belgium on 19 August – so he was clearly involved from the very early days. He was a member of the 8th Brigade Royal Field Artillery (regimental no. 78965) and, like many others, clearly joined up under age (he was 17 – the minimum qualifying age was 19). I managed to track down his medal roll index card from the war (really spooky to actually see this via the internet!). He received three war medals: Victory Medal, British Medal and Star Medal but, crucially, the Star medal included the “14 clasp” which was awarded only to those who had served their unit in France+Belgium between 5 August and 22 November (and “given to all who served under fire”).
Family “history” speaks of him being involved in the First Battle of Ypres (October-November 1914), the Battle of the Somme (1916) and the Battle of Passchendaele (July-October 1917 – certainly my brother Alan was aware of him experiencing mustard gas attacks in some form or other). The casualty figures for these three battles alone are staggering: 54,000 at First Ypres; 420,000 at the Somme; and 310,000 at Passchendaele - sombering to appreciate that, if he hadn't survived against the odds, I wouldn't be here! The “clasp 14” service medal would certainly seem to indicate that he could have been involved at Ypres in 1914, but there’s a limited amount of other stuff that I’ve been able to uncover on the internet and, I suspect, that a trip to the National Archives is the only way I’ll ever be able find out further details!
He never spoke to us about the war and, having discovered a little more about his involvement, I can perhaps understand why.
Photo: Corporal Walker.
