William Paul (Layton) Walton

Personal Information
Date of Birth	not known
Place of Birth	Cotterston, Yorkshire, England
Death	16 Apr 1917
Place of Death	Rouen, France
Age at Enlistment	18 years
Description	5'7" (1.70m) tall' weight 130 lbs (59kg); fair complexion, grey eyes, light brown hair.
Occupation	farm hand
Religion	Church of England
Address	Serpentine, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father Mr William Walton
Military Information
Reg Number	2027
Date of Enlistment	20 Mar 1916
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	51st Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement /13th Brigade, 4th Division
Date of Embarkation	18 Jul 1916 - 9 Sep 1916
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A48 Seang Bee
Fate	Wounded in Action 2 Apr 1917 at Vaux-Vracourt Died of Wounds 16 Apr 1917
Monument	Mundijong Serpentine
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

Entered Blackboy Hill camp on 20 Mar 1916 and was allocated to the 3rd reinforcement draft for the 51st Battalion on 4 Apr 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France from Folkestone on 28 Nov 1916 aboard SS Princess Henriette, joining the 4th Division's Base Depot in Le Havre before moving forward to join the 51st Battalion in the field. Taken on strength by the 51st Battalion on 14 Dec 1916 wile they were billeted in Buire-sur-l'Ancre south west of Albert.

On 2 Apr 1917 Layton received a penetrating shrapnel wound to his back and chest during the battalion's participation in an attack on German positions at Noreuil north east of Bapaume. At 3:40am that day the 51st Battalion was in position for the attack when the Australian barrage started, and they advanced behind the barrage taking about 80 casualties from machine gun fire from both flanks of the village before they reached it.

At 7:30am, the enemy shelled the right hand company of the battalion with high explosive and shrapnel as it had begun to dig in near a sunken roadway with a commanding view of the country in front of it. This shelling continued until 11:00am, killing and wounding about 30 men. It is likely that this was when Layton was wounded.

Treated by the 13th Australian Field Ambulance he was evacuated to the 6th General Hospital in Rouen on 7 Apr 1917 where he died from the wounds on 16 Apr 1917.

Red Cross file:

"I have to inform you he was admitted to this hospital on 7.4.17 suffering from GSW to Chest (penetrating) from which he never showed signs of recovering. He died in spite of all treatment at 1:45am 16.4.17 being buried in St. Sever Cemetery Rouen. " OC No 6 General Hospital.

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  St Sever Cemetery Extension
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  Commonwealth War Graves Commission

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial