CURTIS, WALTER ROBERT
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
text on stone:
Rifleman
14509151
26/09/1944
20
Camaronians (Scotish Rifles)
I. D. 10.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
we will remember him
Additional information:
Son of Walter William Henry and Amelia Maud Curtis, of Plymouth
Died of wounds at the fieldhospital in Meerveldhoven where he was initially buried.
From the service records of Walter Robert Curtis, the following account can be reconstructed.
Walter Robert Curtis was born on 22 August 1924 in Plymouth. In civilian life he worked as a shipyard labourer and was unmarried. He was described as being 5 feet 6 inches tall, with hazel eyes, black hair, and a scar on the outside of his right eye.
He enlisted in the British Army on 7 January 1943 and joined the Royal Armoured Corps. On 22 July 1943, he was transferred to the Devonshire Regiment, and later, on 20 July 1944, to the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Walter served in North-West Europe, where he was wounded during the fighting. He died of his wounds on 26 September 1944.
In a letter preserved in the records, his parents later described a painful and confusing sequence of events. On 4 October 1944, they received official notification that their son had died of his wounds. Then, on 18 October, they received a letter written by Walter himself, stating that he was safe and well. Subsequent investigation revealed that this letter had been written earlier and delayed in transit, receiving a later postmark, which tragically gave false hope before the reality of his death was confirmed.
Original gravesite at Meerveldhoven.
Western Evening Herald 1950
