Thomas and John Walker: WW1 Veterans

This is the story of the lives of two brothers who served in the Canadian Army during World War One. These men were my Great-Grand Uncles: Thomas Hamilton Walker and his brother, John Walker.

WoodendThomas and John were the sons of Thomas Hamilton Walker Sr. (b.1845 - d.1916) and Elizabeth Reid (b.1849 - d.1939) of Scotland. They lived their early lives in the Shotts and Armadale area of Lanarkshire county just west of Edinburgh. The two Walker brothers were born fifteen years apart and were to ultimately lead very different lives in Scotland before they immigrated to Canada around 1910, where they eventually settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Their father, Thomas Walker Sr. worked as a 'pitheadman' at the Woodend Coal mines in Scotland. A pay report from 1888 disclosed that he earned about 5 pounds per month. On this salary he supported a family of 12 children. He was also deacon of the nearby Presbyterian church in Woodend, which he was associated with for over thirty years.

Thomas and John WalkerHis son, Thomas Hamilton Walker was among the first Canadian civilians to enlist with the 1st Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914. He subsequently served overseas for the full duration of the war, when he returned home in April 1919. Thomas was awarded the D.C.M near the end of the war for heroic efforts he displayed during the last 100 days of 1918.

His brother John Walker was perhaps more famous for his exploits before the war, having played for ten years with the Scottish Football League, helping to lead his teams to several League championships. John served in the Signal Corp of the Canadian Engineers in England, and with the 1st Tramways Company in France during 1918.

After the war, both brothers returned to Winnipeg. Some years later, they moved out to their family farm near Pilot Mound, Manitoba.

The extent of knowledge about their lives is necessarily incomplete owing to the scarcity of records and the passage of time, but through a combination of photographs, service records and the recollection of relatives who knew them, a picture of their lives has emerged.

This record stands as a testament to these men, who like so many of their contemporaries, volunteered willingly to serve their country when war broke out, unaware of the full extent of the struggles and suffering they would soon face overseas and who, after their service was complete, returned to their former lives in Canada where they lived out their remaining years as respected members of the community, in quiet but relative obscurity.

WW1 War Record of the Walker Brothers

This is their story, and my tribute to them.
Ian Walker Watson
Calgary, Alberta 2006