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Walter Herbert Young was born in Southborough, Kent in Feb 1870, one of six children to Major General Charles Metcalf Young and Elizabeth Ann (nee Chapman). He married Jeanie Marguerite Grace Bolden on 9 Sep 1897 in Pendlebury, Lancashire and they had two children, Walter Gavin and Norah Elizabeth. Educated at Westward Ho and Sandhurst he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the East Yorkshire Regiment in Mar 1899. A captain by the time of the Boer War, he was present in action at Hout Nek, Biddulpsberg and Wittebergen. He earned the Queen's Medal and the King's Medal and was Mentioned in Despatches.
A Major by the outbreak of hostilities in Aug 1914, Young was quickly sent to France with the 1st Battalion and took command after Colonel R E Bensen was killed on the Aisne. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in Feb 1915. Having taken command of the 2nd Battalion he was present at the Battle of Loos, slightly wounded in Nov 1915, and remained in command of the Battalion on the Somme in Jul 1916. He returned to the UK in Sep 1916 and was awarded the DSO and twice mentioned in Despatches. A brief period of active service ensued in France in early 1917 when he was hospitalized, Young remained employed in the UK until the war's end and was placed on the retired list in June.
The colonel who for many years was editor of the regimental magazine the Snapper, died at Farnham, Surrey in Apr 1940 aged 70.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |