No.888701, Lance Corporal, Cyril Harry WALTERS
Aged 31
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Cyril Harry WALTERS was born on 9th August 1912 (Chesterton Q3-1912 3B:757 ), son of ? WALTERS (unm). He was brought up by foster parents, George William Howard and Sarah E Howard née Poole. George and Sarah were married in Haverhill in 1896, making their home at 33 Mill Road. Both were employed as hair cloth weavers, no doubt at Chauntry Mills. Cyril was to meet Evelyn Brown and they married in 1936. Evelyn's mother's maiden name was Howard, the same as Cyril's foster family so it is possible that he met his wife through this family link. He married Evelyn [12-5-1913] in Haverhill (3rd qtr 1936 Risbridge 4a:3198). She married Leon PUCKOWSKI in 1946 in Saffron Walden On 2nd October 1937, Cyril and Evelyn had a son, Richard George. At this time Cyril was working as a grocer's assistant and the family were living at 1 Peas Hill. Shortly after this and prior to the outbreak of war he took a job as a waiter in the Sergeants' Mess at a local aerodrome. In 1939, like so many other local men, he originally enlisted in the Royal Artillery before being transferred to the 5th Suffolks (TA) on 13th July 1939. His wife Evelyn W.M. and son Richard were living at 4 Eden Road at the time of the 1939 Register. |
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Initial training took place at North Walsham with the first few months spent in the Norfolk area performing guard duties at river bridges; coastal defence in the sand
dunes of Hemsby and also in and around stately homes. The unit was then moved on to other locations, being stationed at Fulbourn near Cambridge, then to Hawick,
Scotland; Liverpool; Isle of Anglesey; and finally Leominster in Herefordshire. In early October 1941, whilst at Leominster, they were informed that they would be
going overseas, possibly for service in the Middle East. On 27th October they made their way by train to Liverpool Docks, where they embarked on a troopship named
the 'Reina del Pacifico' which, as a part of the 18th Division Convoy, sailed for what was to prove a great misadventure. On reaching Halifax, Nova Scotia, the
troops transferred to an American troopship, the 'USS Wakefield', which was once an ocean-going cruise liner. Compared to the previous ship this one was magnificent,
everything about it being first class, the accommodation and food was excellent. On the 9th December, the convoy docked at Cape Town still under the impression that
they were due for action in the Middle East, but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour they found themselves diverted to Singapore instead.
The 5th Suffolks were fighting until the last minute, before Singapore was surrendered to the Japanese on 15th February 1942, which is when Peter was captured and then put to work on the Burma-Siam railway. Unfortunately his Japanese prisoner of war card has not been found. This may still not have told us of his mother, as his foster parents would no doubt have been recorded. The first news of Cyril was reported in the South West Suffolk Echo on 8 January 1944, "Mrs S E Howard of 1 Priory Avenue, Haverhill, has had the joy of receiving the first news of her foster son, L Cpl Cyril H Walters 5th Suffolk Regiment, after a period of nearly two years. He too is a prisoner of war in a Thailand Camp. He has a wife and 6 year old son living in Fairy Croft Road, Saffron Walden. Mrs Howard wishes to express her appreciation of the many kind enquiries received during the period of waiting for news of her son." When Cyril's wife and foster mother heard the news of his being a prisoner of war, they were not to know that he had in fact died at Chungkai two months earlier on 12th November 1943, suffering from an ulcer, beri-beri and acute enteritis. Like for so many other next of kin, his death was not confirmed until after the end of the war, in this case on 4th October 1945.
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photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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