Saturday, January 12, 2013

Pte George Walker, Border Regiment (1917 - 1939)

1. Headstone of Pte. George Walker, Border Regiment
2. Walker family headstone, Thornthwaite Churhyard
3. Thornthwaite (St Mary's) Parish Church, Cumberland
For additional information click on 'Comments' below. 
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1 Comments:

Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

dditional information

Some biographical information

Private George Walker of Thornthwaite and Cleator Moor, Cumberland (now Cumbria) served with the Border Regiment in the first months of WW2. Initially having listed with the 4th (T.A.) Battalion, Pte. George Walker was posted to the 6th Battalion shortly after war was declared. At this stage the 6th Battalion was effectively a 'reserve battalion' of the Border Regiment, mainly for the 4th Battalion.

George Walker was born in 1917 the second son of the late John Thomas Walker and Catherine Walker (née Waugh, later Jackson). The Walker family lived in the village of Braithwaite a short distance to the west of Keswick, Cumberland (now Cumbria) near Bassenthwaite Lake. His parents lived at High Coledale, Braithwaite and his paternal grandparents lived at Lake View, Braithwaite.

Private Walker's father, John Thomas Walker, passed away in 1922 at the relatively early age of 33. Mrs Catherine Walker remarried in the summer of 1939. Her second husband was Mr William J. Jackson of Cleator Moor, Cumberland.

While on home leave over the first Christmas period of the war George Walker took sick and died of meningitis on 26 December 1939. He was 22 years old. Private Walker was laid to rest in the parish churchyard of Thornthwaite (St Mary's), the ecclesiastical parish covering Braithwaite and Thornthwaite. Private George Walker is also commemorated by the Cleator Moor 'Roll of Honour'. He was the first service casualty of the Second World War linked to the Cleator Moor area.
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Headstone memorials

The CWGC headstone in Thornthwaite (St Mary's) Churchyard for George Walker (Photograph No 1 above) reads as follows:

3599993 Private
G. WALKER
The Border Regiment
26th December 1939. Age 22
In Heavenly love abiding
"Until We Meet Again".
......................

Private George Walker is also commemorated on the Walker family headstone in the churchyard (Photograph No 2 above).

One side of the headstone reads as follows:

In Loving Memory of
JOHN THOMAS WALKER
who died at High Coledale, Braithwaite
May 8th 1922. Aged 33 years

Also Pte. GEORGE WALKER
son of the above.
Who died Dec. 26th 1939.
Aged 22 years.

One the second side of the headstone is the following inscription:

In Loving Memory of
JANE
Wife of JOHN WALKER
who died at Lake View, Braithwaite
Feb. 19th 1925. Aged 72 years
Also of the above
JOHN WALKER
who died April 2nd 1926. Aged 75 years.
Also SARAH JANE,
daughter of the above
Died De. 31st 1947.
Aged 73 years.
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CWGC citation

This is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission citation for Private George Walker, 6th Battalion The Border Regiment (1917 - 1939):

Name: WALKER, GEORGE
Rank: Private
Service No: 3599993
Date of Death: 26/12/1939
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 6th Bn.
Grave Reference: N.E. of church.
Cemetery: THORNTHWAITE (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD, ABOVE DERWENT, Cumberland (now Cumbria).

Additional Information:
Son of John Thomas Walker and Catherine Walker;
Stepson of Mr. W. J. Jackson, of Cleator Moor.
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Dedication

Dedicated to the memory of Private George Walker, 6th Battalion The Border Regiment.

"At rest in a country churchyard.
Reunited".
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Acknowledgements

The Border Regiment & KORBR Museum
The Castle, Carlisle, Cumbria.
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Monday, 23 December, 2013  

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