Harold Henry Walton

Harold Henry Walton served with 'A' Company and landed in France on 28th February 1915. He was killed at Loos while in action at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, France. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner. He joined the Robin Hoods in 1913 as a 2nd Lieutenant, obtained promotion in June 1915 and was gazetted to a temporary captaincy only a week before he was killed. He was slightly wounded twice, once in the thigh and on the second occasion in the hand, but soon rejoined his battalion after treatment.

Family memorial in the church of St John the Baptist (WMA27235): 'In loving memory of Harold Henry Walton MC, Captain of the Robin Hoods, of the Manor House, Chilwell, killed in action on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, France, Wednesday 13th October 1915 in his 21st year. Facta Non Verba.'Second Lieutenant Harold Henry Walton, 'A' Company, 1/7th Battalion Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment, was awarded the Military Cross [1] in acknowledgement of his gallantry at Hooge on 30th – 31st July 1915. “NOTTM. OFFICER DECORATED.“Second Lieutenant H. H. Walton Wins the Military Cross.“CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. “Among the officers upon whom the King has conferred the Military Cross in recognition of gallantry and devotion to duty (see list elsewhere) is Second-Lieutenant (Temporary Lieutenant) Harold Henry Walton, of the Robin Hood Rifles. “The official description of the deeds which earned this honour for Lieutenant Walton is:— “For conspicuous gallantry and energy several occasions:— On the night of the 30th-31st July, 1915, near Ypres, when ordered to reoccupy an advanced sap, he was heavily bombarded with trench mortars and rifle grenades, several of his men killed and buried, but by his cheerful and gallant conduct kept his men in hand and held on to his position. Had the enemy been able to get a footing in it the defence of the next trench would have been very difficult. “On the night of the 3rd – 4th August he led a patrol up an evacuated trench. It was not known if it was occupied by the enemy or not, and the information brought back was of great value. “Lieutenant Walton has frequently reconnoitred close to the enemy's trenches and obtained valuable information.”“Lieutenant Harold Walton is the younger of the two soldier sons of Mr. Edmund Walton, of Manor House, Chilwell, both of whom are serving at the front with the Robin Hoods. He is only 20 years of age, but is in charge of the bomb-throwers of the battalion, while his brother, Lieutenant Arthur Walton, [3] is with the machine-gun section, and it is probable that Lieutenant Arthur Walton was present at one or both of the incidents which earned for his younger brother his decoration. The personal anxiety, as well as the strain of the military situation, may better be imagined than described. “Articled Pupil in Well-known City Firm.“Lieutenant Harold Walton passed on from the Modem School at West Bridgford to Oundle, where he was a member of the Cadet Corps, with which he went in camp, and was an excellent gymnast and a good shot. He was also present at the big inspection of public school boys at Windsor some four or five years ago by the King. It was two years this autumn when Mr. Walton joined the Robin Hoods as a second-lieutenant, and was, of course, on duty with them during the King’s visit to Nottingham and on mobilisation. In civil life he was an articled pupil of the firm of Messrs. Walker, Walton, and Hanson, the well-known Nottingham firm, which his father is a partner and his brother (who had passed his final examination for the Surveyors Institute), was an assistant.“Since he has been at the front, Lieutenant Harold Walton has been slightly wounded twice— in the thigh and also the hand. It was a coincidence that the same day on which his name appeared in the casualty last in the newspapers, it was also announced that he had taken five wickets in a cricket match played behind the lines.“Popular with his men, and regarded most highly by his senior officers, while enjoying a large circle of acquaintances in Nottingham and Chilwell, the news of Lieutenant Walton's distinction will give great pleasure to all who know him, and his father, who has given his only two sons to the service, will be the recipient of sincere congratulations also.” [1] 'London Gazette,' 2nd October 1915.[3] Lieutenant, later Major Arthur Atkinson Walton, 1/7th Battalion Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment (Robin Hood Rifles).Above article and further information published 4th October 1915 in the Nottingham Daily Express courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918 Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Panel 97 to 89