Brigadier-General Henry Alexander Walker (20 October 1874 – 1 May 1953) was a British Army officer who served with the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

regiment, and later with the King's African Rifles in 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 ...

Military career

Walker was the son of Lieut.-Colonel Edward Walker, Royal Fusiliers, and he was educated at St Georges College, Weybridge. He was commissioned a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Royal Fusiliers in December 1894, was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 24 November 1897, and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 27 January 1900. He was later second in command of the 1st Battalion, King's African Rifles, Nairobi, at the turn of the 20th century. In 1914, he was brigade major in the Meerut Division. He commanded the

16th Infantry Brigade The 16th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service during the Second Boer War and the First and Second World Wars. History Second Boer War During the Second Boer War, the 16th brigade was active in Sout ...

during the First World War until the loss of his left arm in a shell attack at

Vaux-Andigny Vaux-Andigny () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department References

Communes of Aisne Aisne comm ...

on 16 October 1918. 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 ...

nine times. On attaining the age of compulsory retirement, on 17 September 1931 he was retired on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

, and was granted the honorary rank of

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Battles

* He was listed as captain (temporary major) 1st K.A.R. who commanded the No. II Column in the first phase of the Nandi Expeditionary Force in the East Africa Protectorate, October 1905—February 1906. His column assembled and guarded sections of railway and the station at Lumbwa, in Kenya's Rift Valley Province, and completed its concentration during the night of 20–21 October 1905. Major Walker had recently collected intelligence, and acted accordingly at dawn on 21 October, which surprised the villages of Chief Arab Nango (Kamehlo clan of Nandi) by a night march from Lumbwa. In this affair, they were completely surprised and suffered considerable casualties. He subsequently commanded his troops operating against the Nyangori tribe and latterly the left wing of the driving line and the companies in Kametilo.

- On the 22nd and 23rd October the approaches to the forest covering Tinderet range were reconnoitred.
- On the 25th and 26th the enemy's villages on the far side of Tinderet were surprised, after a night march, which began at 8 p.m. on the 24th, across this steep and densely wooded range of mountains. No. II Column then operated on the Line Uson Point-Tieto-Ket Parak Kipturi, reaching Nandi Fort to refit on the 3rd November.
- Between the 21st October and the 3rd November, the operations of No. II Column resulted in considerable loss to the enemy at the cost of 1 death and 4 casualties.
- February 1906; A garrison of five companies under command of Major Walker, drove the Kamelilo and the Tinderet range.
- By the 5th of February their first drive resulted in clearing the Mau forests of all but a few of the enemy, who remained hiding in the dense thickets on the mountains, and in completely clearing Kamelilo and Tinderet of all Nandi.
- The Nandi Field Force was demobilised on the 27th February 1906, a garrison of five companies, under Major Walker, 1st K.A.R., being left in the cultivated portion of Nandi and in Kamelilo to prevent the return to their former locations of the inhabitants whom were expelled.

*King George V approved his promotion from Captain to Major for operations during the Nandi Expeditionary Force in the East Africa Protectorate, October 1905—February 1906. * January 1909–1910 - Somaliland - He was the first to arrive with 300 Askari of 1 KAR from Nyasaland. The battalion marched up to

Wadamago Wadamago ( so, Wadaamagoo) is a historic town in Aynabo District, in the Sool region of Somaliland. Etymology The name Wadamago () stems from the phrase ''Wadaamo go, meaning ''wadaan breaker'' in Somali. A wadaan is a hand made bucket that i ...

where it performed mundane escort duties and fatigues for a year before returning to Nyasaland. *Disembarked for the

Battle of Ypres The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force). During the five ...

on the 12 October 1914. * On 16 January 1919 Brigade Commander and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel H. A. Walker, CMG, DSO, R.Fus., relinquished his temporary rank of Brigadier General. * July/August 1920–1921 - He commanded the 55th Brigade Column in operations North of

Hillah Hillah ( ar, ٱلْحِلَّة ''al-Ḥillah''), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq on the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, south of Baghdad. The population is estimated at 364,700 in 1998. It is the capital of Babylon Province a ...

, Iraq. * Colonel Walker was appointed a Brigade Commander in the Territorial Army, 21 September 1925.

Awards, Medals and clasps

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

**Cape Colony clasp, 1901. **Orange Free State clasp, 1901. **Transvaal clasp, 1901. *

Africa General Service Medal The Africa General Service Medal, established in 1902, was a campaign medal of the United Kingdom. It was awarded for minor campaigns that took place in tropical Africa between 1900 and 1956, with a total of forty five clasps issued. The medal is ...

**Jidballi clasp. **Somaliland 1902-04 clasp. **Nandi 1905-06 Clasp. **Somaliland 1908–10 clasp. *

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in Nov ...

* Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

, 1915. *The

Order of St Stanislas The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

, 3rd Class (With Swords) 19 February 1917. *He was appointed Companion of The Most Honourable

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) by King George V for valuable services in Mesopotamia, 9 September 1921. * He was awarded the General Service Medal, 15 December 1923 for his duties in Iraq. * In 1931 he was offered the award of a

CBE 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 ...

for his military services, but he declined the proposal.

Home life

Walker was born on 26 November 1874 in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Sussex. His father was Colonel Edward Walker of

Mayfield, Sussex Mayfield and Five Ashes is a civil parish in the High Weald of East Sussex, England. The two villages making up the principal part of the parish lie on the A267 road between Royal Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne: Mayfield, the larger of the two v ...

, and his mother was called Mary Josephine. He married the widow Winifred Plunkett (born 7 March 1872, maiden name Hadwen) on 28 August 1907 at the Parish Church of St Lukes, Chelsea, London. He had a property at Artillery Mansions,

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

, London, but records on the 1911 census show he lived in Castle Road,

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

, and had two servants. His last permanent address was at Manor House, Lower Woodford, Salisbury, in 1949. He died in his home on 1 May 1953, after a short illness. He was aged 78. He left approx £18,277 in assets to his wife Winifred in his will.

Miscellaneous

* He was invited to and attended the Southdown Hunt Ball, January 1899. * He presented an ornate 17th-century Arabic manuscript on polished paper written in vocalised Naskh script to Cambridge University, possibly owned originally by

Carl Brockelmann Carl Brockelmann (17 September 1868 – 6 May 1956) German Semiticist, was the foremost orientalist of his generation. He was a professor at the universities in Breslau, Berlin and, from 1903, Königsberg. He is best known for his multi-volume ...

, which was used in a detailed catalogue of Islamic manuscripts, ''A Second Supplementary Hand-list of the Muhammadan Manuscripts in the University and Colleges of Cambridge'' originally published in 1952. The manuscript was sold on behalf of a charitable trust in 2013 at Sotheby's Auction House for £3,500 GBP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Henry Alexander 1874 births 1953 deaths British Army generals Royal Fusiliers officers King's African Rifles officers People educated at St George's College, Weybridge British amputees British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British military personnel of the Iraqi revolt of 1920 People from Brighton Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Fourth Somaliland Expedition Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class