Walter's Story.
Walter Stokes was born around 1893 in Kelsall, Cheshire to William and Sarah Stokes. His elder brothers Harold and Edmund had been born in Runcorn but the family moved to the small village of Kelsall after the 1891 census, where his sister Eva Vicoria was born.Walter can not be found in the 1911 census , he would have been around 18, but his father is listed as a retired farmer living in Kelsall with his wife and two of their children, Eva and Edmund.
Walter went to France in October 1914 with the 1st Bttn Royal Welsh Fusiliers and was injured from shell fragments, as an article appeared in the local paper stating he had been wounded in both legs, head and one hand. A later letter states the Germans were firing "Jack Johnson" shells at the Welsh and it was the shrapnell from one of these that injured Walter.
In the Chester Chronicle from 14th November 1914, there is a detailed write up of the incident.
"It was just after dawn when they came towards our trenches, they were only 150 yards away and we were mowing them down, they were coming in their hundreds. I was just enjoying it when a shrapnel shell came and burst by me. A piece caught both my legs and a piece cut my boot at the ankle but did not hurt my foot. My legs are not hurt too much. I can walk about.
I got out of the trenches and walked back behind our lines about a mile away. As I was crouching down in the covered trench, a Jack Johnson came and took the piece of wood away above our heads. The shell burst about 2 yards away. It killed the two men next to me, and blew me into the trench landing on somebody. Some bits of shell cut my head, I got two cuts on the back of my hand and bruised my side. I am a lucky begger to be alive at all. I dont suppose I will stay at this place for long. As soon as I get something I will come home and tell you all about it. I cant tell you much in a letter. You must excuse the short letter but I want you to know were I am and that i am alive and kicking."
It appears that once fit and well, Walter was sent back to the front.
In April 1918, he is reported as being caputured by the Germans on 23rd March on the Cambrai front.
He wrote to his parents in May 1918 to state that he was quite well as a POW.
Walter returned to the UK in 1919, and had suffered as a POW. It is stated that he died as a consequence of these hardships experienced as a POW. This is reported in the local paper which states that if he had been treated fairly he would have survived.
Walter is buried in a Commonwealth War Grave in St Phillip Churchyard, Kelsall, Cheshire