HOOTON, Walter Henry. PM. WW1.

Died 15 Jan 1940 Age 48. Lance Corporal, Bandsman, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment. Service Number 9295.

Walter Henry Hooton was born in Derby to William and Maria Hooton. Tragically, his father died when Walter was 2 and his mother when he was 14, so he was sent to St Christopher's in Derby, a railway sponsored orphanage. From here he went to the Dover Gordon's Boys Orphanage in Dover where he trained as a musician.

In 1908 he joined the army, the Bedfordshire Regiment, as a boy, aged 15. He played in the Regimental band, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal.

During WW1 he served in France and was gassed and wounded twice, once seriously. It was whilst in hospital recovering that he met his future wife Jane, who worked there as a cook. They married in 1920.

After the war he played in a band at various venues around Derby.

On the 1921 census his occupation is listed as Wagon Painter at the Carriage and Wagon works in Derby.

His experience of the war profoundly affected him and at night he would go for long walks. With the coming hostilities of WW2 his condition got worse. After the death of his nephew in 1940, during a bombing raid on the German invasion barges in the Netherlands, he attempted suicide and was committed to Kingsway Mental Hospital where he died a few months later, aged 48.

For the 100th Anniversary of the ending of WW1, Network Rail posted stories of Network Rail employee’s ancestors who fought in WW1. 20 ancestors were chosen, one being Walter Henry Hooton, and his story was shown at Network Rail managed rail stations on the information and advertising screens.

Thank you to Walters grand daughter for the photos and for giving permission to tell this story.