William Paul (Layton) Walton

William Paul (Layton) Walton

Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1897
Place of Birth	Cotterston, Yorkshire, England
Death	16 Apr 1917
Place of Death	Rouen, France
Age at Enlistment	18 years old
Description	5'7" (1.70m) tall ; 130 lbs 58.967 kg ; 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 Honour Roll Serpentine Roll of Honour ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford) Australian War Memorial
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

While he signed his attestation papers on 3 Mar 1916, Layton didn't enter Blackboy Hill camp until 20 Mar 1916. On 4 Apr 1916 he was allocated to the 3rd reinforcement draft for the 51st Battalion and proceeded with them to England.

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. Layton was taken on strength by the 51st Battalion on 14 Dec 1916 while they were billeted in Buire-sur-l'Ancre south west of Albert. Soon after they moved to Vignacourt where they remained for Christmas and New Year's Day 1917. On 3 Jan 1917 they moved back to the Flers area and cycled in and out of the front lines until 23 Feb 1917 when they moved back to a rest area.

The 51st Battalion moved back into the front line on 22 Mar 1917 near Lagnicourt and prepared for an attack on the village of Noreuil, north-east of Bapaume, scheduled for 2 Apr 1917. 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 having received a penetrating shrapnel wound to his back and chest.

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

Layton's Red Cross file provides some detail .

"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