Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Francis Spring Walker (6 January 1876 – 24 June 1941) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. He was born into an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest ...

family in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

in 1876. He received his diploma for Licentiate Midwifing from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in 1898. He was also educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was commissioned into the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

on 25 April 1900 and served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

in the Orange River Colony and Cape Colony from June to December 1900 before being invalided. Between 1902-03, when his health broke down and he had to go on half-pay for 8 months, and 1905-1908 he served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and was promoted to Captain 25 April 1903. He was stationed at Ferozepore in 1908. He was promoted to Major 25 April 1912. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Spring Walker sailed to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

with the 16th Field Ambulance of the British Expeditionary Force on 11 September 1914, where he served until 15 January 1915 when he was invalided. On 17 February 1915, he was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for the first time. He served in the Gallipoli Campaign as a medical officer in command of the Hospital Carrier Vladivian at Suvla Bay and Malta 1915-16 as O.C. No. 3 Convalescent Camp, Ghain Tuffeyh, Malta. Back in the UK he was the O.C. Military Hospital, Taunton and Military Hospital Cork. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel 26 December 1917. On 3 June 1919, he was decorated as a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. On 10 and 29 July that same year, he was Mentioned in Dispatches for a second and third time. He retired from the army in May 1920, but remained on the officer reserve list until 1922. He returned to

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland, where he died in 1941.

References

*Entry No: 127. Drew R, 1968. Commissioned Officers in the Medical Services of the British Army 1660–1960, Vol II Roll of Officers in the RAMC 1898–1960 London, Wellcome Historical Library. *Succession Books Vol XX, Returns of statement of service of RAMC Officers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spring Walker, Francis 1876 births 1941 deaths Royal Army Medical Corps officers

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Anglo-Irish people