Rank
Prov Sgt
Service No.
145284
Unit
77th to 38th Btn
Died
19 November, 1916
Age 31
Age 31
Buried
Contay British Cemetery, Somme, France - VIII F 17
Remembrance:
First World War Book of Remembrance - Page 160
Additional Info
Walter Henry Scott was born 20 December 1891 in Lindsay Ontario, the second of 4 children and oldest son born to William Henry and Dorothy (Preston) Scott of 26 Sussex Street, Lindsay ON.
Employed by Sutcliffe and Sons in Lindsay as a clerk for a number of years, Walter enlisted on 20 October 1915 in Ottawa with the 77th Battalion, as several of his fellow Sutcliffe employees did. When he arrived in England, he was transferred to the 38th Battalion where he would serve with many Lindsay men. Walter’s younger brother Fred served with the 169th Battalion, and only arrived in England 3 weeks prior to Walter being killed in France.
The start of November 1916 found the 38th Battalion at the Somme front, in Chalk Pits as working parties, suffering through wet weather. For several days in a row the war diary entries note “wet weather” along with heavy shelling and bombs being dropped by enemy aircraft into the lines. By the middle of the month, the weather had changed to very cold, freezing the previously soaked ground. On 18 November 1916, the Battalion was near Bouzincourt, which is the site of a labrinyth of tunnels that sheltered soldiers throughout the Battle of The Somme. Carved on the soft walls of these tunnels are thousands of names, memorials to fallen soldiers and tributes to entire battalions.
However, on this day they weren’t in the tunnels, but in the front lines preparing for an attack that would commence at 610am. The war diary notes: “all battalions obtained their objective. Large list of casualties. Snow fell early in the morning, later turning to rain. Albert and vicinity of transport lines untroubled by enemy shelling or aeroplanes. Desire Trench occupied.” The war diary goes on to note that stragglers from the attack were still coming in, and that wounded were being sent out to as quickly as possible.
On 19 November 1916, Walter Scott succumbed to shrapnel wounds to his abdomen and left arm, at No 9 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, which was then located near Contay, France. Walter is buried in Contay British Cemetery, Somme France. He was 31 years old.
Attestation and other Documents (pdf, 34 pages - 14.8MB)
