Walter Vernon Falkiner MC

 

1887 Sep 6. Born Brentford. The family were fairly affluent, in as much as when his father died in 1923, the father left an estate of £11.000.

1887 Dec 2. Baptised the son of Bessie Matilda and Richard Daniel Falkiner

falkiner baptism

1891 Living with parents at 19 Arlington Park Gardens, Chiswick. His father is a Civil Engineer

1901 census. A student at Eastmaris Royal Naval Academy in Crawley

1912 Jun 29 . Married Edna Hyam Marcus at St Matthew Church, Hammersmith. He is living at 13 Walpole Gardens, Gunnersbury

1915 He appears to join the RFC, but is rejected/resigns and moves on to Durham Light Infantry and Trench Mortars

1915 Jun 14. RFC Military Wing, Walter Vernon Falkiner to be Second Lieutenant (on probation).

1915 Jul 3. Royal Flying Corps, Military Wing. The appointment of Second Lieutenant (on probation) Walter V. Falkiner, which appeared in the Gazette is cancelled. He appears to have been in RFC for only 19 days, but he probably never even got to the RFC

1916 Feb 1. Landed in France. With 19th battalion Durham Light Infantry and attached to 105 TMB

1917 Sep 26. MC gazetted. T./2nd Lt. Walker Vernon Falkiner, Durham. L.I. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty .when in charge of Stokes mortars during an assault on the enemy's trenches. When one of his gun positions was blown in under heavy shell fire, he took the gun out and brought it into action in the open trench, thus maintaining the maximum effect of fire. During the whole of the operations this officer 'has consistently' shown the greatest gallantry and personal disregard of danger

1918 Aug 14. Returned to UK wounded

1920 Nov 1 Joined ADRIC with RIC no 70207, ADRIC no 925. H Coy at Tralee. His home address was 31 Wynn’s Lay Gardens, Kensington, London. DLI

1921 Mar 12. The train from Listowel to Tralee was ambushed by the IRA at 8.45. Falkiner and another Cadet Lomas, were on the footplate. The Irish train drivers were refusing to move trains with uniformed troops and it is likely here that the driver and fireman had been forced to take the train out, with Falkiner and Lomas making sure that the train crew stayed on the job. The ambush took place at Tubrid Railway Station, County Kerry. The Limerick train was attacked by a group of IRA men with a machine gun. The train continued to Tralee in spite of the fact that the engine driver was seriously wounded. I suspect that very few IRA men were involved in this attack, very little appears in the memoirs of local IRA men, other than a couple of lines saying that there was an ambush and one Cadet was killed.

In may have been that the IRA were looking for C. Sutton t :- Hannafin Papers. Mikey Joe Hannafin – Intelligence officer No 1 Brigade “ I got special instructions to look out for an Aux Sutton. I found out he was in Tralee. I played billiards with him one night and found out he was going away in the morning. I passed on this information and as far as I can remember the train was raided for him at Tubrid but he got away."

1921 Mar 17. Walter Vernon Falkiner buried in East Sheen Cemetery. Burial Number 2334. Section C Grave 510

1921 Mar 19 Inquiry report is available

1921 Apr/Jun Walter Vernon Falkiner death registered in Ireland. Tralee vol 5, p343

1921 Apr 16 His widow is awarded £9000 compensation at Tralee Quarter Sessions.

1921 Sept 21 Relinquishes his commission on completion of service. Durham L.I. Temp. Lt. W. V. Falkiner, MC. and retains the rank of Lt. Gazette . One of the quirks of army beauracracy

1922 Jan/Mar . His widow married E M Lesie

 

ADRIC