WALKER, Alvin George
| Service Number: | 4071 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Whiteford Hills, Tasmania, Australia, 10 October 1890 |
| Home Town: | Dunorlan, Meander Valley, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Brookhead State School, Tasmania, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died as a POW, Germany, 21 October 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cologne Southern Cemetery Plot X, Row C, Grave 4. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4071, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 4071, 15th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Orontes embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 24 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 4071, 15th Infantry Battalion, RMS Orontes, Melbourne | |
| 1 Feb 1917: | Imprisoned |
Help us honour Alvin George Walker's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Alvin George Walker was the son of William and Jane Darling Walker of Dunorlan, near Deloraine, Tasmania. His father passed away in 1904 when Alvin was 14 years of age.
He joined the 15th Battalion in France on 20 July 1916. On 1 February 1917, the 15th Battalion staged a raid, near Gueudecourt, when they attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. In the face of relentless German shelling and bombing of the captured trenches, and a strong German counter attack at 4.30 a.m. the Battalion was forced to retire at 5.a.m. The Battalion lost over 20 men as prisoners of war, and Alvin Walker was one of these, wounded in the leg by a grenade blast. He was first treated in German field hospital at Cambrai before being sent to a prisoner of war camp at Dulmen, Germany, which is about 34 kilometres north-west of Dortmund, Germany.
Alvin Walker fell sick in the prisoner of war camp and he his condition worsened during October 1917. He died in the camp hospital on 21 October 1917 and was buried in a small cemetery outside the camp.
Alvin Walker’s mother passed away during 1918 and his eldest brother received his medals and entitlements. In 1924, the eldest brother was informed that Alvin George Walker’s remains were reinterred in the Cologne Southern Cemetery in Germany.
Click images to start slideshow.