2nd Lieutenant John Crowther WALKER
Royal Engineers and 205 Squadron Royal Air Force

Date of birth: 22nd February 1897
Date of death: 15th June 1970

Survived aged 73
Unknown
John Crowther Walker was born at Whaddon Manor, near Gloucester on the 22nd of February 1897 the son of Herbert Walter Percy Walker, a bank manager, and Kathleen Irene (nee Crowther) Walker of 9 Curzon Street, Chester.

He was educated at Hazelwood School until December 1910. On leaving the school the magazine wrote of him: - "Not a prominent sportsman, but a great factor in the social side of school life. Quite an authority on entomology, stamps and various indoor pursuits. Has made a creditable use of his time with us, and been very useful in countless ways."

He went on to Marlborough College where he was in Preshute House from January 1911 to the 4th of August 1914 where he served as a Private in the Officer Training Corps.

He enlisted as Sapper 71228 in the Royal Engineers on the 22nd of June 1915 and served as wireless operator in a Signal Company. After a year of training at Worcester he was sent to Cairo as a fitter in a mounted section for three months from July 1916 and then proceeded to the West Frontier as part of the force deployed there against the Senussi, serving on camels and working with Ford car wireless sets. He returned to England in the spring of 1917 and was posted to the Wireless Training Centre at the Worcester Wireless Depot from where he applied for a commission on 31st of August 1917, expressing a preference for either the Tank Corps, the Royal Artillery or the Royal Flying Corps. He underwent a medical examination on the 14th of September 1917 where it was recorded that he was five feet eight inches tall and that he weighed 133lbs. He filled in a new application for the Royal Flying Corps (Special Reserve of Officers) on the 17th of October 1917 and reported to the Commandant at the School of Military Aeronautics, Reading on the 21st of November 1917 to begin his training.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps on the 10th of January 1918 and was posted to 31 Training Squadron at Wyton on the 21st of January. On the 23rd of January 1918 he was posted to 12 Training Squadron and on the 4th of March he returned to 31 Training Squadron. He attended No. 1 School of Air Gunnery at Hythe from the 8th of April 1918 and took a further gunnery course at New Romney from the 11th of May 1918.

On completion of his training the following was noted on his file:-

"Wireless operator, electrician, instrument repairer, fitter, proficient rating. Experience in wireless telephony and continuous wave sets. Knowledge of internal combustion engines. Since joining RFC flown Maurice Farman-- dual"

He was posted to France as an Observer with 205 Squadron.

At 8.30am on the 7th of September 1918 he took off for a reconnaissance mission over the St Quentin-Cambrai front as Observer in DH4 A7587 piloted by Lieutenant Douglas John Thompson Mellor. During their mission they were attacked by a flight of Fokker biplanes and John Walker was wounded by two bullets which fractured his right thigh. Mellor was killed, despite which Walker managed to force land the plane behind German lines where he was taken prisoner. Mellor was buried by the Germans but the gravesite was lost.

He was repatriated to England on the 13th of January 1919 and was sent to the Prince of Wales Hospital for observation on the same day. He was placed on the Unemployed List for the Royal Air Force on the 27th of August 1919.

On leaving the service he became a director of C. Edmund and Co Ltd, Motorcycle Manufacturers of Milton Street, Chester. He lived at 9 Curzon Park, Chester and he died at the Royal South Hampshire Hospital
Went on to Marlborough College

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