2nd Lieutenant John Walker
Biography of 2nd Lieutenant John Walker
John Walker was born in 1895 to Mr John Sharp and Mrs Elizabeth Walker. He was the second youngest child in a family of five: he had two older sisters and one brother, named Janet, Elizabeth and James; and one younger brother named Louis. At the time of the 1901 census, John and his family resided on Grangemuir Road, Monkton. They would later move to 19 St Andrew’s Drive, in Pollokshields. In both areas, John’s father worked as an iron founder. Once the family had moved closer to the city, John attended the High School of Glasgow (presumably alongside his siblings).
John’s main link to the University is through his membership in the Officer Training Corps, where he was a cadet between 1912 and 1914. There is no evidence of him having attended the university itself although his elder brother did enrol at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1913 with a degree in Medicine. Instead, John enlisted in the army and was assigned to the 14th Bn. of the Northumberland Fusiliers. In this regiment, he was gazetted to Second Lieutenant. On July 1st, 1916, he was killed in action at Fricourt. A small press clipping released the following day confirms this as his date of death. He was twenty-one.
Like all the soldiers with a connection to the University of Glasgow, John’s name is recorded on the University Chapel’s Roll of Honour. However, he is also remembered elsewhere. The High School of Glasgow, his alma mater, constructed a plaque which bears his name amongst the other fallen. Nor was he forgotten by his local parish: in Pollokshields’ Church of Scotland, Albert Drive, he was commemorated in a Remembrance Book. He is also remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
University Connections
WWI Roll of Honour
Summary
2nd Lieutenant John Walker
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Regiment: 14th Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers
Degree: N/A
Awards: N/A
Comments: Killed in action, 1 July 1916.
Note/Press Clipping: Ch 4/4/2/3/1264
Photo ID: Ch 4/4/2/2/296
Sources
1901 Scotland Census
Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Debt of Honour Register
GUAS Ref: DC/183/11
GUAS Ref: Ch 4/4/2/3/1264
GUAS Ref: Ch 4/4/2/2/296
The Scottish War Memorials Project
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