Private
Walter Robert WINTER
Infantry
Died: 14th April 1917 - Age: 36

Commemorated:

1. Grave:Etaples Military CemeteryXXII. H. 10A.
2. Book:The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918Pg.139
3. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour39D GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

British War Medal
 

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: 4th South African Infantry 

The 4th SA Infantry Regiment and the larger South African Brigade initially served with the British 9th (Scottish) Division. Following the Brigades decimation in March 1918, it was reconstituted and incorporated in September into the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division until the end of the War. After a short campaign in North Africa against a Turkish attack on the Suez Canal the South African Scottish, as they were known, were sent to France. Here they took part in the Battle of Delville Wood as part of the battle of the Somme in 1916. Between July 12 and 19th the total casualty rate was about 74% of those who went into action. By the end of July, the SA Scottish had suffered 868 casualties. After Delville Wood, the shattered SA Scottish were reformed and served on the Western Front in particular at Vimy Ridge, the Somme, the battle of Passchendale, Marrieres Wood, and the battle of Messines.

Action : The Arras Offensive and associated actions 

9 April - 16 June 1917. The Arras Offensive consisted of a series of linked attacks starting with the Anglo Canadian assault on the dominant Vimy Ridge feature through the battles in the Scarpe River valley and up to the assaults on the Hindenburg line in the summer of 1917.

Detail :

The War Diary for the day 14th April 1917 reads " at 12 midnight or four minutes after the enemy opened up a gas shell bombardment, most of it going over amongst the artillery positions {...], but a few shells fell in the vicinity of our trench. The bombardment lasted quarte[r] an hour. About 4 A.M. a few more gas shells. At 11.30 A.M. som 4.2 S on 7mm shells in [...] of our trench. [...] our trench in places. A fine sunny day"

Australian War Memorial (article showing British War Medal showing summary).
This medal is related to the service of 9799 Private Walter Robert Winter, one of four brothers who served in the First World War. Winter was born at Deniliquin, NSW, in 1877, the son of John George Powell Winter and Margaret Bain. He emigrated to South Africa before the First World War, where he enlisted in the South African Infantry on 19 September 1916. Prior to enlistment he worked as a train driver with the Durban Railway.

Winter embarked from South Africa for England aboard the Balmoral on 7 October 1916. He served on the Western Front from February 1917 with C Company of the 4th Regiment. In April he received a gunshot wound to his right thigh, probably near Arras, causing a compound fracture of his femur. Winter was admitted to a field ambulance on 13 April before being transferred to a hospital at Etaples where he died on 14 April from his wounds. He was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, south of Boulogne, in France.

His brother, Lance Corporal George Ernest Winter, who served with the 1st Canterbury Battalion, NZEF, died of wounds in September 1916 and is also buried in the same cemetery. Another brother, Private Henry William Winter, served with 46th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force and was killed in action on 8 July 1918 near Amiens. The eldest brother, Private Herbert George Winter, also served with the AIF, in 23rd Battalion. He survived the war and lived on a soldier settlement called 'Delville Wood' near Deniliquin, New South Wales.

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : Duguza No. 2461 E.C.Natal

Initiated
Passed
Raised
31st March 1915
30th June 1915
22nd September 1915
 

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2019-09-01 08:43:06