The sad news is to hand that Private Walter Jones, 13th Cheshire Regiment, husband of Mrs. Jones, White House, Childer Thornton, and third son of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, was shot by a sniper on April 30th.
Private Jones joined the colours at the same time as the Sutton lads at the beginning of the war. Prior to that time he was in the employ of Mr. Ker Wilson, of Heswall, and formerly of the Vicarage, Hooton. During his residence in this district he was much respected by all who knew him, and his death is a sorrow to all. Much sympathy is felt for Mrs. Jones and his parents.
Mrs. Jones received a letter last Saturday stating the circumstances of her husband’s death. The writer, acting C.S.M. Wareham, who was the deceased soldier’s platoon sergeant, says:
I wish to state, on behalf of the platoon, that the men feel they have lost a valuable comrade by his death. He was highly esteemed by us all, and when he met his death in the act of carrying water to his comrades, every man felt a sense of personal loss. He was shot by a sniper, but you will be pleased to know that he died quite painlessly and instantaneously.
I have known him since the regiment was first formed, and knew him to be a brave and most reliable soldier, and I can assure you that we shall all feel his loss most acutely.
Records detail that Walter Jones was born around 1893 in Elton Green, Cheshire, one of four children to John and Mary Jones. He is listed as having worked as a “Horseman on Farm” in the 1911 census and living in Cheshire. His marital status is “single” at this point.
Walter Jones is recorded as having been killed in action in the Western European theatre of war on 30th April, 1916, just over 2 months before the commencement of the Somme Offensive. He would have been 22 or 23 at the time of his death depending on his month of birth, which I am unfortunately yet to find.
He is buried at the Ecoivres Military Cemetery, in France.
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