Name
Walter Gee
1872
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
24/11/1920
47
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Territorial Force War, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
St James the Great Church Memorial, Thorley *1, Not on the Bishop's Stortford memorials
Pre War
Walter Gee was born in 1872 in Bishop’s Stortford to William & Emily Gee. He was a Chelsea Pensioner, having served in the Essex Regiment from 1891 (No. 3411) and served in India. On his discharge he joined the Herts Volunteer Battalion at Bishop’s Stortford.
He married Elizabeth Goats in Romford, Essex, in 1892. On the 1911 Census he was living at London Road, Thorley, Bishop’s Stortford with his wife and family and working as a Street Lamp Inspector for the Bishop’s Stortford Gas Company.
Wartime Service
Walter was initially a Sergeant with the 1st Hertfordshire Regiment (Reg. No. 201) at the outbreak of the War, and engaged in training recruits until he went to France in September 1917. He was promoted to Company Sergeant Major, Reg. No. 160333, Warrant Officer Class 2, in the Labour Corps. Later, he was placed in charge of the 82nd Company Chinese Labour.
After the signing of the Armistice he went in early 1919 with 1400 Chinese to Tsingtao (now Qingdao) and reached home on 13 May 1919.
He died age 47 on 24 November 1920 at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London as a consequence of an illness contracted on his trip to China.
Additional Information
*1 Listed a s a survivor on the Thorley memorial. He is not listed on the CWGC website. He was buried in Bishop's Stortford Cemetery with full military honours. A report of his funeral appeared in the local newspaper. Probate was granted in London on 17 January 1921 to his widow Elizabeth Gee with effects of £361.12s. A report of his funeral appeared in the local newspaper.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
www.geehome.co.uk
