Captain Harold Henry Walton was the second son of Mr and Mrs Edmund Walton of the Manor House, Chilwell, near Nottingham. During the War, Chilwell became the site of National Shell Filling Factory No.6 and on 1st July 1918, it was the scene of tragedy, when an explosion in the factory killed 134 people and injured more than 250 others. It was the worst death toll from a single explosion in British history.
Harold Walton came up to Oundle and Laxton House in September 1908, joining his brother Arthur, where their Housemaster was Sammy Squire. Harold was a promising and enthusiastic member of the Cadet Corps and became a good rifle shot. After leaving Oundle, he was articled to a firm of auctioneers in Nottingham called Walker, Walton and Hanson, where his father was a partner.
Before the War, he joined the Territorial Force called the Notts and Derby Regiment, also known as the Sherwood Forresters. He was promoted to Lieutenant in June 1915 and gazetted to a temporary captaincy shortly before his death on the 13th October 1915, where he led a bombing party attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt, in the ill-fated Battle of Loos.
He was awarded the Military Cross, for his actions on the night of 30th July 1915 near Ypres. The London Gazette reported the award on 2nd October, just 11 days before his death: “He was heavily bombarded with trench mortars and rifle grenades, several of his men having been killed and buried but by his gallant conduct, he kept his men in hand and held on to his position.”
Harold Walton was also mentioned in a despatch from Field-Marshal Sir John French on 30th November 1915.
His elder brother Arthur Walton also went to Laxton House and served in the same regiment as Harold. Though twice wounded, he survived the War.
A stone plaque to Harold Walton was erected by his grieving father in Beeston Parish Church. Captain Harold Henry Walton was 20 years old at the time of his death.
C Pendill
Yarrow Fellow