Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, 1st 4th Battalion, Territorial Force, Service No. 11664.
Killed in action 30th April 1918, aged 28
Story
Born in 1889, the son of Charles Goodall and Eliza Barton, Walter was a Pit Pony Driver living with his parents on Mount Pleasant before the War. He never married, and enlisted in Leeds.
Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, 1st 4th Battalion
4th August 1914, the 1/4th were stationed at Halifax as part of the 2nd West Riding Brigade of the West Riding Division and then moved to Hull and Grimsby as part of coastal defences. 14th April 1915, they mobilised for war and landed at Boulogne. They were engaged in various actions on the Western front, including:
1915 The Battle of Aubers Ridge, the defence against the first Phosgene attack. 1916 the Battle of Albert, the Battle of Bazentin Ridge, the Battle of Pozieres Ridge, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. 1917 Operations on the Flanders Coast (Hush), the Battle of Poelcapelle. 1918 the Battle of Estaires, the Battle of Messines, the Battle of Bailleul, The First Battle of Kemmel Ridge, the Second Battle of Kemmel Ridge, the Battle of the Scherpenberg, the pursuit to the Selle, the Battle of the Selle, the Battle of Valenciennes.
On the 10th of April 1918, elements of the 1st/4th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, were involved in a major counter attack against German forces, who had made a river crossing of the river Lys in the town of Erquinghem Lys, France (below). The German opposition was strong and the Battalion suffered heavy losses, with 15 Officers and 391 other ranks killed, wounded or missing. Walter was killed in action shortly after this battle, during the Germans’ 1918 Spring offensive.
Kippax Roll of Honour 