Name
Walter James Pratt
25 November 1890
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
20/07/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
201335
Bedfordshire Regiment
1st/5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GAZA WAR CEMETERY
XXX. A. 10.
Israel and Palestine (including Gaza)
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead
Pre War
Walter James Pratt was born in Hemel Hempstead on 25 November 1890, the son of Walter and Elizabeth Pratt (nee Porter) and one of four children.
His mother died soon after his sister Daisy's birth in 1894, aged 30 and is buried in Heath Lane Cemetery, Hemel Hempstead.
On the 1901 Census, Walter and his sisters Ceclia and Daisy were living with their widowed father at 27 Weymouth Street, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a 'navvy'.
Walter was educated at Boxmoor School from 1895 and moved to Apsley Boys' School four years later, leaving in November 1904 on his 14th birthday to start work.
His father married again in 1902, to Emily Rhodes from Hemel Hempstead and they had three more children, Walter's half-siblings.
By 1912 he had moved to London and met his future wife, Jane Elizabeth Bickerstaff. They married in November 1914 in Hemel Hempstead during Walter's home leave, prior to being sent to France. They had no children. His widow gave her address as 435 Wick Road, Hackney Wick, London, E9 on pension records.
Wartime Service
Walter enlisted at Hertford in August 1914 and joined the Bedfordshire Regiment, initially being posted to the 1st Battalion for basic training at Ampthill Park.
He was sent to France on 2 February 1915 and joined his regiment on the 8th, however, in less than a month he was severely wounded by shrapnel from enemy shelling and was evacuated for treatment. He recovered after some months and was posted to the 5th Battalion before sailing to Egypt.
They spent a year guarding the Suez Canal but moved to Gaza in March 1917 and saw action in Palestine. On 20 July the Battalion were at Umbrella Hill opposite Turkish positions. After some fierce fighting the Bedfordshire Regiment retreated to safer positions but were then subjected to severe Turkish shelling which resulted in many casualties.
Walter was one of the 24 men killed in action in Palestine on 20 July 1917 during the bombardment and is buried in Gaza War Cemetery. He was 26 years old.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £13 10s and pay owing of £9 11s 10d. She also received a pension of 13s 9d a week. She remarried in 1922 in Hackney to Albert Fountain and had a child Albert in 1925. N.B. The name Walter Pratt on the Hemel Hempstead Memorial could be Walter Sydney Pratt or Walter James Pratt.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk., www.hemelheroes.com, www.hemelarwar.org.
