Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John and Jessie WALKER

THE LATE CAPT. JOHN S. D. WALKER, M.C,
A SPORTSMAN'S TRIBUTE.
' Not Out,' the well-known cricket writer in the Sydney 'Referee,' pays the following tribute to the late Captain John Stuart; Dight Walker, in this week's issue of that journal : —
Capt. J. Stuart Dight Walker, M.C., the Sydney Grammar School and Sydney University cricketer and footballer, second son of the Rev John Walker, formerly of Woollahra, and now of Ballarat, was killed in action in France on 21st June. Capt. Walker was a native of Sydney, and graduated in engineer ing at the University. When the war broke out he was manager of a mine in West Australia, and, enlisting as a private, qualified for a commission before proceeding to the front. Capt. J. S. D. Walker in France was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in the field at Pozieres. Seriously wounded, at Mouquet Farm, he was invalided to Australia, but after some months convalescence he returned to the front. He was one of five brothers, all of whom enlisted for active service. The eldest, Rev. Arthur D. Walker, also a graduate of Sydney University, was in Scotland when war broke out, and enlisted in the Royal Scots as a private, but subsequently accepted a commission in a Manchester Regiment. He was killed
in action in France, as was also a younger brother, Noel Walker. Another brother, Capt. Alison G. D. Walker, is with the New South Wales Mounted Forces in Palestine, having been through the Gallipoli campaign. The youngest brother, Lieut. Maxwell Walker, is in the Royal Flying Corps. A sister, Nurse Marjorie Waker, is with the Australian Force at Salonica. When Capt. Walker came back to Australia after having been wounded I had the pleasure of meeting him again, having known him when he was playing with the Sydney Grammar and Sydney University elevens and fifteen. He might not have had the cricket and football skill of some of his ablest contemporaries, for he played with, men who were really great at the two games, but he had plenty of ability, abundant enthusiasm, and an ample reserve of pluck. In the Interatate Grammar Schools' match on the Melbourne G.S. ground in 1903 he scored 108 out of 482, and with the ball (he was a left hander) got one for 20 and three for 49. Two years earlier he scored 36. He played in the Inter-University match in Sydney in 1905 and scored 10. What a beautiful page is that written in war history by the Walter family.

Military Cross

'For conspicuous gallantry and skill during operations. He assisted wounded men and sent up ammunition and water to forward dumps under incessant shell fire. During the main enemy counter attack he directed a steady indirect fire, without waiting for orders, on the advancing enemy.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 184
Date: 14 December 1916