| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Walter Anderson was born on 6 Feb 1898, the youngest son and sixth of the seven children of William and Mary Jane Anderson. At the time of Walter's birth the family lived on Cherry Tree Lane, but had resided on Cattle Market Lane and Lurk Lane and would, eventually, move to 14 Minster Moorgate.
By the time of the 1911 census the Andersons had lost three of their seven children, Ada, Hilda and Arthur. William was a bricklayer and their eldest daughter Ethel a costumer. Emily, Walter and Doris, their youngest children, were all still at school, though in later years Doris, who was baptised Charlotte Doris, went on to be the secretary of the Minster Girl's Friendly Society. William, according to the obituary published on his death in 1941 at the ripe old age of 87, was a member of the Beverley branch of the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers for 50 years and treasurer for a considerable time.
It is not clear when Walter Anderson left employment as an apprentice draper for Mr Mackrill of Market Place and signed up to do his bit in the war, but he started by enlisting in the East Yorkshire Regiment, though by 1917 he was Private 242770, Walter Anderson of the 2/5th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment.
On 3 May 1917 the Battalion moved forward to attack enemy lines, having reached their objective they were turned out of the enemy trenches in a counter attack and were held, pinned down by shell, rifle and machine gun fire, in front of the enemy front line trenches and forced to wait until dark to return to their own lines. Losses were heavy and the wounded 'dribbled in' all the next day. Only two men were reported killed at the time, with 123 missing and 275 wounded, though many of the missing were to be presumed dead. Walter Anderson was one of those reported missing in the action from the trench system known as Bullecourt against the German Hindenburg Line. His friends asked for news of his whereabouts in the Beverley Guardian after being informed of his disappearance by one of Walter's friends at the front, but Walter had already been presumed dead by the army on that very day, 3 May 1917. He was 19 years of age.
Walter was posthumously awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. His name appears on the Arras Memorial and the Beverley Minster War Memorial. Walter's name did not appear on the original plaque of the Beverley War Memorial but was added after the fact on a small addendum plaque, along with the names of two other men.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |