GUNNER/SHOEING SMITH, 776142 WALTER THIRKELL, 245 BRIGADE ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY. DIED (INFLUENZA), 3rd MARCH 1919 AGED 28


GUNNER/SHOEING SMITH, 776142 WALTER THIRKELL, 245  BRIGADE ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY. DIED (INFLUENZA), 3rd MARCH 1919 AGED 28




Walter Thirkell was another victim of the flu pandemic which struck over the winter of 1918-19. At the end of February 1919 he had been released from the army after serving throughout the war. His skills as an engine fitter on the railways were urgently needed in peacetime Britain and so his discharge was brought forward. He had only been back with his parents at 6 Springs Terrace when he developed symptoms of flu which progressed to bronchial-pneumonia from which he succumbed on the 3rd of March.

Born in the village of Carnforth, Lancashire, Walter was the youngest of 12 children born to William and Elizabeth Thirkell. His father worked on the railways as a foreman fitter on the Midland Railway and when Walter was very young brought his family to Ilkley. Walter too would work for the Midland Railway like many of the male members of his family.

Before the war Walter was a member of the Territorial Howitzer Battery which was based at the Drill Hall on Leeds Road and in August 1914 was with them when they left the town to begin the training that would prepare them for service on the Western Front. The battery arrived in France in April 1915 and Walter remained with it until his eventual discharge.

Today Walter Thirkell lies in Ilkley Cemetery and is remembered with pride on the towns war memorial.

Photo shows Walter on the left and is courtesy of James Cooper.







With brother Septimus



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