Soldier Record
Walter James Newnham
Contributed by: Paul Newnham, on 2008-11-21
| Rank | |
|---|---|
| First Name | Walter James |
| Surname | Newnham |
| Year of Birth | 1892 |
| Year of Death | 1917 |
| Regiment | Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) |
| Place of Wartime Residence | Goldington, Bedford, Bedfordshire |
Walter James's Story
Rifleman Walter James Newnham S/33031 was born in 1892 in Goldington, Bedford, England. He was the first child of Alfred and Ellen Newnham.
Walter joined up in February 1916. He was initially allotted the service number 26054 and posted with the Bedfordshire Regiment. After his basic training he was posted to the 21st battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) and allotted the service number S/33031. He was then 'retained on important duties at various stations in England' until April 1917 when he was posted to Eygpt.
On Sunday April 15th 1917 Walter was on board the ship H.M.T. Arcadian which was on route from Salonika to Alexandria. On board the ship with Walter were a company of 1,335 troops and crew.
In the evening of that Sunday, when the ship was about 26 miles North East of Milo in the southern Aegean, H.M.T. Arcadian was torpedoed by the German submarine UC74.
One eye witness reported that the ship took less than 3 minutes to sink taking with her Walter, 19 officers, 213 other ranks, 10 Naval ratings, 34 crew and two civilians.
Walter is commemorated on the Mikra Memorial, Greece.
No additional memories have been submitted