| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Walter enlisted in the 1/4th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment as a Private on 18 Nov 1914 and after training arrived in France on 27 Jun 1915. The Battalion spent the entire war on the Western Front and was involved in many of the major battles there between 1915 and 1918, including the Somme and Paschendaele. Later in the war he was transferred to the 14th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment. This may have been in mid Jul 1918 when the 1/4th Battalion of the EYR was reduced to cadre status, in effect disbanded and stood down following depletion of numbers.
Serving in the Leicestershire Regiment he suffered unspecified wounds and was discharged in early 1919. He was awarded the Silver Star as well as the 1914-1915 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
Walter was the son of Fred Thorley, of Hornsea and Harriet Hewitt, of Skidby. The family moved to Hull but had relatives living in Beverley. Fred Thorley served in the 3rd East Yorkshire Regiment from 1884-1896, then in the Reserve but recalled in 1900 and sent to fight the Boers in South Africa. On his return he re-enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery from 1901-07 serving some time in Malta.
Walter married Gertrude M Whitaker in Hull in 1938. In 1939 they were living at 24 Terry Street, Hull and Walter was an unemployed labourer. He died in 1969.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |