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Walter Richard Parker was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 23rd September 1881 and was the eldest of eight children born to Richard and Kate. In 1902 he married Olive Orchard, and they lived in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, where Walter worked at the Stanton Ironworks as an iron moulder.
Following the outbreak of war, Walter enlisted at Nottingham on 9th September 1914 in the Royal Marine Light Infantry and was allocated the short service number 229. After receiving his initial training in the Portsmouth Division, he was posted to the Victory R.M. Brigade on 18th November and sailed with the Royal Naval Division for the campaign in the Dardanelles.
Due to the wounds he received over the 30th–1st, Walter was evacuated back to England and subsequently transferred to the Portsmouth Division on 29th June for his recovery. On 14th May 1916 he was posted to Command H.Q. in Ireland, where it quickly became apparent that he was no longer fit for service, and he was invalided on 14th June. Returning home to civilian life with a war gratuity of £10, he worked in a munitions factory for the remainder of the war.
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Although he was recommended for the VC immediately following the action, it took two years for the award to be finally granted, largely due to the officers of the Portsmouth Battalion having become casualties on the peninsula. When it became known that Walter was to be presented with the VC, the local newspaper featured an article:
Lance-Corporal Walter Richard Parker, of 14 Brookhill-terrace, Stapleford, is to-day a proud man - and the town in which he lives is equally proud of him - for he has by his "gallant conduct in the face of the enemy" gained that most coveted of all distinctions, the Victoria Cross, which is to be presented to him in person by His Majesty the King. Two years have passed since Lce.-Cpl. Parker performed the service which has now been duly, if somewhat tardily, recognised; and the official intimation must therefore have come to him last week to some extent as a very pleasant surprise. The following is a copy of the communication received by him from the Admiralty:-
Sir,
I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to inform you that, after full enquiries made, with regard to a report which they have received of your gallant conduct in the presence of the enemy, on the night of 30th April - 1st May 1915, at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli Peninsular, whilst serving as Lance-Corporal in Royal Marine Light Infantry, Portsmouth Battalion, they have recommended to the King, and his Majesty has been graciously pleased to approve, the award of the Victoria Cross to you, in recognition of your services on the occasion in question.
The award will be announced in the "London Gazette" in due course.
A further communication will be made to you for your attendance to receive the decoration above mentioned
Yours obediently
W. Graham Green. |
Lance-Cpl. Parker is the eldest son of Mr. Richard Parker and the late Mrs. Parker, of Lime grove, Stapleford, and is 36 years of age. Within a month or so of the outbreak of war, viz., on September 7th, 1914, he answered his country's call. Immediately after joining the colours he was attached to the Portsmouth Division of the R.M.L.I., and was sent in due course to Gallipoli.
"Whatever may be worthily attributed to other forces at the landing, there must and can be no losing sight of the salient fact that the Royal Marine Infantry rendered splendid service at the Dardanelles.
"We were in and out," says Parker, "both night and day, attending to the wounded, and rendering first-aid to the injured. Having been at work in the Hospital some time, Col. Luard, Capt. Syson, and Capt. Morton came in quietly and called for a volunteer to go down to one of our own companies which was enfiladed. All of us realised the task was almost super-human."
Lance-Cpl. Parker was the senior N.C.O. on duty. To leave the company amongst which were many men wounded and probably dying for lack of medical assistance was a terrible thought. As no volunteers were forthcoming, Stapleford's hero himself volunteered. The time for the attempt to bring relief to their fellow-comrades drew near. He began to work his way from trench to trench for some considerable distance, when he was suddenly confronted and threatened by an Australian officer that if he did not return from such a forlorn mission he would shoot him dead. Regardless of this, he proceeded on his journey. To reach his goal he had to pass an open passage, upon which, day and night, Turkish machine guns were ceaselessly playing. The gallant V.C. ran through this deadly trap, and, running down the hill into a place called the Valley of Death, fell into a pond at the bottom. The next thing which aroused his failing sense was the tremendous cheering of the officers and men of his battalion, which was enfiladed also. He was the first man to go down and render them assistance, using every bandage and other equipment with which he had set out, so that none remained to dress his own wounds. He stayed with these troops throughout the night - a night which gained for Lieut. Alcock the D.S.C.; and the same night as Lieut. Hempson, the gallant little officer, was killed. That same night the Turks made a desperate charge, which compelled the British to retire slightly. After taking cover for some considerable time he was eventually located by the Turks, and shot in several places; but crawling to the top of the hill, almost exhausted, he was ultimately carried in by the stretcher-bearers of his own division. After reaching the beach Lance-Cpl. Parker was placed upon the s.s. Gondola, a temporary hospital ship, and taken from thence to Alexandria, and from there home. After a time, Lance-Corporal Parker was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital, to be attended by naval doctors; and on his discharge from hospital was sent to barracks, where the gallant V.C. was taken ill with brain fever, which badly affected his sight, and he received his discharge on the 17th June 1916.
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The VC was presented at Buckingham Palace on the 21st July 1917, his being the last awarded for service at Gallipoli.
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Walter and Olive eventually saw the arrival of six children; Vera Constance (b. 1919) was named in honour of his VC. Walter was elected to the local pensions tribunal and became president of the Stapleford branch of the Royal British Legion. He suffered from ill health for the remainder of his life and, as time wore on, his health further declined as a result of his injuries. When he learned that he was dying, he attempted to obtain Olive a widow's pension. The request was denied by the authorities, as it was considered that his death was too long after receiving his wounds for it to be attributable. A campaign attempted to correct this ruling.
Walter died aged 55 at Stapleford on 28th November 1936 and is buried in Stapleford Cemetery. People lined the streets to pay respects to their fallen hero, with eight Royal Marines of the Portsmouth Division acting as pallbearers. The local RMA holds an annual Memorial Service at St Helens Church on the Sunday closest to April 30th. Also in remembrance, there is the Walter Parker VC Memorial Square in Stapleford, and he is named on the Victoria Cross Memorial at Nottingham Castle. In Grantham, a blue plaque adorns the Agnes Street house where he was born, as well as a Victoria Cross Commemorative Paving Stone located in St Wulframs Churchyard. Both Parker Gardens in Stapleford and Parker Close in Gosport are named in his honour.
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