Date of birth:

January 10th, 1922 (Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

October 12th, 1944 (Overloon, The Netherlands)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Overloon
Plot: IV. Row: B. Grave: 5.

Service number:

11402946

Nationality:

British

John Robert Walker (known to his family as Jackie) was killed in action on 12 October 1944 in the vicinity of Overloon. He was aged 22 at the time. He was a Private in the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment (Service No. 11402946). He was initially buried on the premises of Widow Goemans, Overloon and re-interred on 27 May 1947 in grave IV. B. 5 in the Overloon CWG Cemetery. The inscription on his grave reads “Some day, some time, our eyes shall see the faces kept in memory.”

Family Background
Jackie was the son of James Walker and Susan Paxton who had married in 1920 in Stockton on Tees in County Durham. James Walker was born on 21/9/1897 in West Hartlepool while Susan was born on 11/10/1898 in Stockton. Jackie was one of eleven children born between 1920 and 1940 though two died in infancy. He was born on 10/1/1922 in Stockton.

In 1921, James and Susan were living at 9, Smithfield, Stockton on Tees with their first child, Joseph, born in 1920. This was a house with 9 rooms. The head of the household was James’ father, Thomas Walker, born 1866 in Stockton. His mother, Mary E Walker, was there too, born in 1870 in Stockton. A further 13 people were also living there. These included five of Thomas’ unmarried children aged 10 to 27. Present too was a married daughter, Maud Gatenby with her husband Ernest and 5-month-old son and a married son, Henry R Walker with his wife Margaret and three of their children aged between 9 months and 5 years old.

Thomas was working as an Iron Moulder at the Victoria Gas & Chemical Works but was out of work. One of his sons also worked there and was also out of work. James was working as a Stage Rigger at the Furness Ship Building Company at Haverton Hill which was on the north bank of the Tees. Two of his brothers also worked there, one as a “Holder Up” and another as a Rivett Heater. His brother-in-law, Ernest Gatenby also worked there as a Stage Rigger. His brother Henry was working as a Holder Up at Richardson, Duck and Coy. but was out of work at the time. This was another shipbuilder.

Shipbuilding had started in Stockton in the 15th century and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Furness Shipbuilding Company had been established in 1917 as an emergency shipyard to repair ships damaged in WW1. During WW2, it was expanded to cope with wartime demand. Richardson, Duck and Coy. had built some naval ships and also many merchant ships in WW1. It was acquired by another company in 1920 and suffered industrial action and a lack of orders in 1922. It went into liquidation in 1925.

By September 1939, James and Susan Walker were in their own home at 6 Midbourne Road, Stockton on Tees. James was now working as a general labourer. With them were seven of their children including Jackie who was working as a driller at a steel works. The eldest, Joseph, was not at home and the youngest had not yet been born.

Military career
Jackie enlisted on 16/10/1941 as a Gunner in the 52nd Anti Aircraft Driver Training Regiment of the Royal Artillery. He had been a Shot Blaster prior to enlistment.

He was transferred to the 50th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment at Barnard Castle on 13/1/1942. He seems to have spent time at Maryport, Eastleigh and Upton in early 1942. In 1942 every available Light Anti Aircraft gun was being deployed to the South Coast towns of England to defend against hit and run attacks by Luftwaffe Fight Bombers. On 9/5/1942, possibly while at Eastleigh, he was absent without leave for two hours for which he had 10 days’ pay deducted. He was also deducted 10 days’ pay for not being on his gun when posted to manning detachment on 21/2/1943 while at Millbrook.

He seems to have suffered from some sort of infection at a medical facility in Clacton from 27/7/1943 which seems to have ended in him being transferred on 5/8/1943 to the Emergency Medical Service hospital in Clacton or possibly Colchester. He was discharged after 10 days to Wansford.

On 28/10/1943 he was transferred into the South Lancashire Regiment and was assigned to the No. 19 Infantry Training Centre at Formby before being posted to the 101 Reinforcement Group on 22/2/1944 at Leigh on Sea. On 6/3/1944 he joined the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashires. He was deducted a further 5 days’ pay for having his rifle in a rusty and dirty condition when the Company Commander inspected it on 1/4/1944.

At this time, the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment was part of the 8th Infantry Brigade (which included the 1st Suffolk Regiment and 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment) attached to the 3rd Infantry Division, nicknamed Monty’s Ironsides. With this division, it landed at Sword Beach on D-Day (6 June 1944).

It seems that Jackie was wounded with shrapnel in both shoulders on 27 June 1944 while based at Le Landel during the attack on Chateau de la Londe which was part of the battle for Caen.

He was evacuated back to England on 29/6/1944 and admitted to Walton Hospital in Liverpool on 1/7/1944 and transferred to a convalescent home on 17/7/1944. He was posted to 30 Reinforcement Holding Unit on 3/8/1944 and sent back to North West Europe on 22/8/1944.

Meanwhile, during August, his regiment had gone on to play its part in the Battle of the Falaise Pocket.

Following that, on 20 August they found themselves at Chappelle au Moine where they remained until 3 September. This gave them an opportunity for training and some relaxation. This will have been when Jackie rejoined them.

On 3 September they moved from there to Les Andelys which is south east of Rouen. They remained roughly in this area until 16 September, taking part in several 10 to 20 mile route marches, receiving some reinforcements from the now disbanded 59 Division, undertaking training and some relaxation.

From 16 September to 18 September they moved in three stages through Belgium to reach Lille St Hubert, just south of the Dutch border south of Eindhoven. Here they were to assist the East Yorks and Suffolk Regiments to make a bridgehead over the Escaut Canal which they crossed on 20 September to reach Hamont, just west of the Dutch border and then reaching Weert in the Netherlands by the 22nd, despite the Allied forces facing difficulties from bridges which had been destroyed.

They remained in this vicinity until 25 September when C Company moved eastward towards Schoor as part of a plan to clear the west bank of a canal which lay further east. The whole Battalion were expected to take part in this the following day, but it had been decided that they were to move to Maarheeze that day, so only C Company took part in this. Their progress was slow, so they were ordered to disengage and continue after the rest of the Battalion to Maarheeze. On 27 September they moved on again to reach Bakel which is just north east of Eindhoven. The following day they moved again slightly further north to Mortel to allow the American 7th Armoured Division to occupy the area at Bakel. The Americans were moving through to St Anthonis. The Battalion remained at Mortel until 1 October when they moved further north to Heumen which is just south of Nijmegen and north of Cuijk and then to nearby Mook on 3 October.

By this time, Operation Market Garden further to the north had failed to take the bridge at Arnhem. This left the Allies in a narrow corridor through the Netherlands. An attempt was made by the American 7th Armoured Division on 30 September to widen this by attacking Overloon from their position at St Anthonis to try to widen this corridor east to the River Meuse, but this attack failed.

The 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment remained at Mook until 8 October when they moved south to Wanroij. It had been decided that the Americans were to withdraw and leave widening the corridor through Overloon, Venray and Venlo to the British. Initially, it was intended that the attack on Overloon would begin on 11 October. However, this was postponed until 12 October due to the very wet weather and ground conditions.

On 12 October the attack started at noon with a very heavy artillery barrage. The 2 East Yorks led the attack on what was described as Dog Wood to the west of Overloon while the 1 Suffolks targeted Overloon itself. Both achieved their objectives by 1500 hours, but with some mopping up still to do. The 1 South Lancs were initially held in reserve but at 1700 hours A and D Companies were ordered to advance to clear a remaining area with one troop of the 3 Grenadier Guards in support of each forward Company. B and C Companies and one further troop of Grenadier Guards were in reserve. They met very little opposition and by dusk were in position on the forward edge of a clearing. However, it was on this day that Jackie Walker was killed in action along with five others from his Battalion who were killed that day and are now buried alongside each other.

Leslie Joseph Smith, George Vickers, Dennis Roberts, Edward Roberts en Sydney Williamson.

Jackie’s 1939-45 War Medal, 1939-45 Star and France and Germany Star were issued to his family on 7/10/1949.

Jackie’s eldest brother, Joseph, also died as a result of WWII. It was seen that Joseph was not living with his parents in 1939. It may be that he had already enlisted as a Trooper in the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales’s Dragoon Guards) of the Royal Armoured Corps (Service No. 4454878).

Joseph had married Cora Steinmetz in early 1944 in the Stockton area. She had been born on 4/11/1922 and was the daughter of William and Susannah Steinmetz. William had been born on 8/12/1895 and Susannah on 10/4/1897. In September 1939 William and Susannah, Cora and two other children were living at 28 Eastbourne Road, Stockton on Tees. William was working as a General Labourer at a steel works. Cora was working in Domestic Service.

Joseph died on 26/12/1945. Family have indicated that he was wounded in WWII but died of malaria. He is buried in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission grave in the Durham Road Cemetery in Stockton. The inscription on his grave is as follows:
“Trooper J. Walker 3rd Carabiniers Royal Armoured Corps 26th December 1945 age 25
His brother John, South Lancashire Regiment, was killed in Holland 12.10.1944 age 22”

Cora went on to marry Joseph T Robinson in 1951 and died in Stockton in 2002.

Jackie and Joseph’s mother, Susan Walker, died in 1975 while his father, James Walker, died in 1977.

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• Photo 1: Overloon War Chronicles
• Photo 2: Lennard Bolijn
• - Private John Robert Walker | War Casualty Details 11402946 | CWGC
  - From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England - Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records
  - John Walker’s Service Record obtained by Lennard Bolijn
  - “Researching WW2” website for help with Abbreviations used in WW2
  - 1 South Lancashire Regiment War Diaries from Normandy War Guide and Traces of War Websites
  - Wikipedia for information on the 1 South Lancashire Regiment
  - National Army Museum for information on the 1 South Lancashire Regiment
  - Wikipedia Richardson, Duck & Co
  - Photo and information from Michelle Fletcher, Jackie’s great niece.
  
  Research: Elske Dusselaar-van Kammen en Elaine Gathercole (https://www.overloonwarchronicles.nl/walker-john-robert/)

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