Main CPGW Record
Surname: BOLTON
Forename(s): Walter
Place of Birth: Long Preston, Yorkshire
Service No: 31200
Rank: Private
Regiment / Corps / Service: Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)
Battalion / Unit: 1st Battalion
Division: 2nd (Rawalpindi) Indian Division
Age: 36
Date of Death: 1918-11-23
Awards: ---
CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: Face 16.
CWGC Cemetery: ---
CWGC Memorial: MADRAS 1914-1918 WAR MEMORIAL, CHENNAI
Non-CWGC Burial: ---
Local War Memorial: LONG PRESTON, YORKSHIRE
Additional Information:
Walter Bolton (born 21 August 1882) was the son of William and Mary Ann Bolton, formerly Stone, née Marsden. William was born at Wheldrake, Yorkshire and Mary at Baslow, Derbyshire.
1891 Long Preston, Yorkshire Census: Main Road - Walter Bolton, aged 8 years, born Long Preston, son of William and Mary Ann Bolton.
1901 Long Preston, Yorkshire Census: Main Street - Walter Bolton, aged 18 years, born Long Preston, son of William and Mary A. Bolton.
1911 Long Preston, Yorkshire Census: Main Street - Walter Bolton, aged 28 years, born Long Preston, son of William and Mary Bolton.
The British Army Service Record for Walter Bolton exists but may be incomplete.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Pte Walter Bolton, 31200, W. Rid. R. Deceased.
British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Pte Walter Bolton, 31200, 1st W. Rid. R. Deceased.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Walter Bolton, 31200, 1st West Riding. Date and Place of Death: 23.11.18. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Grantee - Agnes Russell. £14 0s. 0d. [Agnes was Walter's sister.]
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Walter Bolton, 31200, 1st Btn Duke of Wellington [sic]. Date and Place of Death: 23.11.18. Jhajha. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Grantee - Agnes Russell. £23 0s. 3d.
UK, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: card(s) exist for Walter. Name(s) on card(s): Dependant: Miss Hannah E. Bolton. Relationship: Sister. Address 1. Main Street, Long Preston, Yorks. Address 2. C/o Langho Colony for Epileptics, Wilpshire, Blackburn. [Hannah Elizabeth died at the Epileptic Colony in 1930 aged 45 years and is buried at Long Preston.]
The 1st Bn Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) remained in India throughout the war.
In the photograph Walter is wearing the hat and cap badge of the 29th (Reserve) Bn Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Scottish).
Although Walter is commemorated on the Madras 1914-1918 War Memorial, Chennai, he is buried in Jhajha Cemetery (Grave 42.), India.
See also: 'Long Preston and the Great War' by Long Preston Heritage Group (2015).
Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry
View Entry in CPGW BookEntry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:
BOLLER [BOLTON], Lance Corporal Walter, [Long Preston], West Riding Regiment, died from pneumonia Nov. 23, 1918.
BOLTON, Lance Corporal Walter, West Riding Regiment, died from pneumonia, India, Nov. 23, 1918.
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Click the thumbnail below to view a larger image.
Private Walter BOLTON
Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)
Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 2nd (Rawalpindi) Indian Division
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View Craven Herald Articles
View Craven Herald Articles
20 December 1918
LONG PRESTON - Died in Hospital
Still another Long Preston soldier has given his life for his country. The aged parents of Lance Corporal Walter Bolton have received information from Headquarters, West Riding Regiment, that their son died in hospital at Gharial, in the Monghyr district of Bengal, from double pneumonia on the 23rd November. Corporal Bolton joined the Army in June 1916, and went to India at Easter 1917. He was in charge of 1,000 coolies working in the Mahesri mica mines. During the time he had been in India he had had various experiences. In one of his letters he related how he saw a tiger come out of a jungle and kill a cow, which it then dragged some distance and partly devoured. A stage was put up and Bolton and another officer kept watch that night. As expected the beast came again to its prey, passing very close to the watchers. They got in one shot but missed the tiger, which disappeared like a flash. The mica mine was 18 miles from a P.O. and station at Jha Jha, the road, or rather track, being most of the way through the jungle. The coolies live in mud huts, work for 5d. a day, eat chiefly homegrown rice, and each man has three or four wives. The dead soldier was in civilian life a butcher and well-known in Long Preston and neighbourhood.
27 December 1918
LONG PRESTON
The late Lance Corporal Walter Bolton was remembered in a memorial service at the Parish Church on Sunday night. The sermon was preached by Rev. R. Shipman, C.F., who said it was very sad to him as vicar to think that Walter Bolton would never again assist in ringing those bells which called them to worship, and that he would never again sit in his place in the choir in which he helped to lead the worship of the Church. The Dead March in 'Saul' was played on the organ.
21 November 1919
BOLTON - In being memory of Lce.-Cpl. Walter Bolton who died at Jha Jha, Bengal, India, Nov. 23rd, 1918.
To us, the loss, the emptiness, the pain,
But unto him, all high eternal gain.
From all the Family and Mollie, Long Preston.
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
27 December 1918
Long Preston Soldier's Death
EXPERIENCES IN INDIA
Still another Long Preston soldier has given his life for his country, the aged parents of Lance-Corpl. Walter Bolton have received information from headquarters, W.R. Regt., that their son died in hospital at Gharial in the Moughyr district of Bengal, from double pneumonia on the 23rd November. Corpl. Bolton joined the army in June, 1916, and went to India at Easter, 1917. He was in charge of 1,000 coolies, working in the Mahesri Mica Mines. During the time he has been in India he has had various experiences. In one of his letters he related how he saw a tiger come out of the jungle and kill a cow which it then dragged some distance and partly devoured. A stage was put up and Bolton and another officer kept watch at night; as expected the beast come again to its prey, passing very close to the watchers, they got in one shot but missed the tiger, which disappeared like a flash. The Mica Mine was 18 miles from a P.O. and station at Jha Jha, the road or rather track being most of the way through the jungle. The coolies live in mud huts, work for 5d. a day, live chiefly on home grown rice and each man has 3 or 4 wives. The dead soldier was in civil life a butcher and well-known in Long Preston and neighbourhood.
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