Current Information:

Age-26

62, Myddleton Road, Hornsey

Meaulte Military Cemetery, France

18th Division, including 12th Middlesex of 54 Brigade, arrived in France at end of July, 1915 and after a period of training moved to the Somme area, recently taken over from the French Army. On 24th January, 1916, 12th Middlesex left their billets in Meaulte and moved into the nearby front line trenches, D1. The morning of 30th January was quiet but things began hotting-up in the early afternoon when, at 1pm, the enemy dropped a number of rifle grenades and trench mortars into one section of the trenches held by the battalion. At 3.45 there was another short but intense bombardment and this time a sector of the trenches known as Rue Albert was hit and four men were killed including Walter Porter. Normally, Battalion Diaries are laconic in their reporting but that of the 12th Middlesex, at this period at least, goes against the grain and contains a considerable amount of detail even going as far as to mention by name those other ranks that were killed or wounded, something that is normally reserved for officers.