William George Walker

Major General William George Walker VC, CB (28 May 1863 – 16 February 1936) was a senior British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross.

William George Walker
Born(1863-05-28)28 May 1863
Nainital, British India
Died16 February 1936(1936-02-16) (aged 72)
Seaford, East Sussex
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Indian Army
RankMajor General
Unit4th Gurkha Rifles
Bikanir Camel Corps (attached)
Commands held2nd Division
9th Sirhind Brigade
Battles/warsThird Somaliland Expedition
First World War
AwardsVictoria Cross
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches

Details

Walker was 39 years old, and a captain in the 4th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army, attached to the Bikanir Camel Corps during the Third Somaliland Expedition when, on 22 April 1903 after the action at Daratoleh, British Somaliland, the rearguard got considerably behind the rest of the column. Captain Walker and George Murray Rolland, with four other men were with a fellow officer when he fell badly wounded, and while one went for assistance, Captain Walker and the rest stayed with him, endeavouring to keep off the enemy. This they succeeded in doing, and when the officer in command of the column, John Edmund Gough, arrived, they managed to get the wounded man on to a camel. He was, however, hit a second time and died immediately.[1][2][3]

He later served in the First World War as Commander of 9th Sirhind Brigade from August 1914 and achieved the rank of major general in 1915 as General Officer Commanding 2nd Division.[4] His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum, Chelsea, London.

Walker was cremated at the Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton, East Sussex, and is commemorated there.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. "No. 27584". The London Gazette. 7 August 1903. p. 4981.
  2. "No. 27584". The London Gazette. 7 August 1903. p. 4976.
  3. "No. 27636". The London Gazette. 15 January 1904. p. 331.
  4. Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Victoria Cross Holders interred within or cremated at Brighton & Hove City Council's Cemeteries and Crematorium". Brighton and Hove City Council (Woodvale Bereavement Services). 2010. Archived from the original (DOC) on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2016.

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Henry Horne
General Officer Commanding the 2nd Division
1915–1916
Succeeded by
Cecil Pereira
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