Walter Isaac Kendall

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 266710

Parents: Mary Jane and John Thomas Kendall

Home address: Hopewell Hill, Kingswood, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Leather cutter in the boot industry

Date of birth: 1885

Date of death: 02/12/1917

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord, France and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 32

Further information:

Walter was the son of a mason's labourer and the eldest of six children with three brothers and two sisters. In 1901 he was working as an errand boy but subsequently worked in the boot industry as did most of his family.

Walter enlisted in the Glosters and served with the 2nd/6th Battalion, in 1914 and his battalion was mobilised to France in May of 1916 where they engaged in various actions on the Western Front including the pursuit of the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Walter fought in the Battle of Cambrai (Nov 20, 1917 – Dec 6, 1917) when he was taken prisoner. The battle was notable for the first large scale use of tanks by the allies in a surprise attack, but an effective German counter-attack meant actual allied gains were minimal at a cost of a third of the tanks and 44,000 casualties. Walter was initially reported as missing but is known to have died as a prisoner of war although his body was never found. The Cambrai Memorial on which he is remembered, commemorates more than 7,000 servicemen from Britain and South Africa who died in the Battle of Cambrai whose graves are not known.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/