| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
Walter was born the 25 Feb 1896 in Hull and baptised at St Stephen’s Church the 15 Apr 1896, the son of Edwin James Andrews and Agnes (nee Purcell). Edwin was a master butcher but in the 1900s moved to Beverley and became the innkeeper of the Dog and Duck, 33 Ladygate. The family lived on the premises. Walter attended Walkergate Evening School where he passed the Pitman’s shorthand examination, he was a clerk at Hodgson and Sons tannery, Beverley. He then became a fitter’s apprentice in Hull and qualified as an engineer. He was a member of the Beverley Church Lads’ Brigade in 1911-1912. On 12 Jun 1915 Walter married Kate Spence at St Matthew’s Church, Hull. Their daughter Edith, was born in Dec 1915 but died shortly after.
On 17 Jul 1916 Walter joined the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. He became a Chief Petty Officer and was graded as an ERA4, an Engine Room Artificer, a marine engineer. In early 1917 he spent time on the cruiser HMS Attentive which was on the Dover Patrol in the English Channel. Walter then switched to HMS Amphitrite, a Diadem class cruiser built in 1898 but converted to a minelayer. He spent the rest of the war on this ship which was involved in a collision with HMS Nessus on 8 Sep 1918 in which the latter was sunk. He left the Royal Navy in Jan 1919 and was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
Walter wnet on to serve in the Merchant Navy as a 4th Engineer for some years, still living in Beverley until the early 1930s. He and Kate had seven children. They moved to Cottingham, Alma House, 41 Northgate. He died on 2 Jun 1979 aged 83.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |