Walter is presumed to have served under his middle name as he is recorded as “S Ashmore” in the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

He had been born in Workington, the second son of the family. They later moved to live at 213 Newbridge Lane, Stockport. Walter also had a younger brother and it is known that all three served in the army. He worked as a doubler at Emery’s cotton mill in Portwood.

He enlisted in September 1914 at Wallasey. It is not known why he enlisted so far from home – perhaps he was on a day trip with his mates and they all joined up. On 9 October he was wounded in an attack described here. He would have been evacuated from the trench and appears to have been receiving treatment from a field ambulance unit when he died the next day.

His corporal wrote to his parents “He was nobly doing his duty when he met his death; he passed away without pain. He was a good and jovial man, sadly missed by his comrades.” It is probably that the NCO was being kind to the family as it is more likely that Walter was not passed further down the casualty evacuation chain as there was no hope of his survival.