Walter Dyer
(1873 –1922)
(Colour
Sergeant Lancashire Fusiliers Wellington Barracks, Bury Lancashire)
My grandfather, Walter Dyer was born in
Alcester, Warwickshire on the 22nd June, 1873. He was the third
eldest of nine siblings. I think he was
either fourteen or fifteen years old when he enlisted with the Lancashires
because he was very eager to enlist.
I
know that he fought in the Boer War and that he used to talk about his service
with Kitchener!
It
was his great honour to be selected as a model for the Bury War Memorial
dedicated to “the glorious memory of Lancashire Fusiliers line militia and
volunteer who gave their lives for their sovereign and country in South Africa
1900-2 this monument erected by their comrades of all ranks and by friends of
the regiment.”
The
watercolour painting of my grandfather was signed by an artist called Colin
Tucker, Aldershot, whether this was a preliminary “sitting” before the actual
sculpture was moulded, or a totally unrelated event, I cannot ascertain. I have in the past tried to trace the artist
but thus far have found no record of his name.
Unfortunately, Walter’s wife
Clara, never believed in retaining memorabilia, so the medals that are
emblazoned on Walter’s tunic, fell victim to a jumble sale many years ago. Luckily, my grandmother did find a use for
what she described as Walter’s army “pass book” and kept it for use as a cover
for notepaper. Apparently, Walter’s
army wages were originally recorded in it and although it is in now a rather
dilapidated condition, I still have it
in my possession.
Printed
on the cover is his rank, name, ID number (3275) and Corps.
The
wording “Soldier’s Small Book” is also
partially visible. No doubt, this book
travelled the world with him.
He
had two daughters, my aunt Gertrude and my mother Ada, born in 1907 and 1911
respectively.
My
mother was actually born on 25th March in Wellington Barracks,
Bury. Her birth certificate shows the
proof of this event.
When
Walter left the Lancashire Fusiliers, about 1914, he moved to Birmingham where
he became Chief Inspector of the Parks Police.
Unfortunately, his life ended very prematurely at the age of 49
partially due to an unfortunate accident.
Apparently, he was leaning out of a window and the sash cord broke with
the result that the window frame fell on his head and knocked him out. Several weeks after this, he complained to
my grandmother about “hearing the church bells all the time” and was diagnosed
as having a brain tumour, from which he died.
My grandmother
remarried several years later and whether she never had any original
photographs of Walter or whether they went the same way as his medals I will
never know, for the only image I have of him is the watercolour and of course
the “life size” version of him in Bury and Salford. I did once see a photograph of him, about 36 years ago in the
house of his favourite sister, my great aunt Matilda in Alcester, but at that
time, I was too polite to ask for it and she died in the 1970’s aged 96, so I
do not know what happened to it. I
recall the photograph being of Walter in his Parks Police Uniform and an epitaph surrounded the photo, which I
imagine was presented at his funeral for his service to Birmingham Parks.
I
feel honoured to have had a grandfather that served his country in the
Lancashire Fusilier Regiment and who will hopefully eternally wave his busby at
generations of people, “lest” they “forget!”
A
copy of my mother’s birth certificate displaying Wellington Barracks as her
place of birth.