Walter George Knight was born on 27th December 1887 and was the older of two children to George and Mary. George was a gardener from London, Mary had been born in Devon, but it was in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset that they settled down to raise their family.
On 11th October 1910, Walter married Rosa Burford at St Saviour’s Church. While listed as a spinster, Rosa had two children by this point – Phyllis and Lionel. A later document records Walter as their stepfather, but their full parentage is unclear.
The marriage certificate notes Walter’s trade as a musician, but the following year’s census shows a more reputable trade, as he had taken to working as an insurance agent. He and Rosa had set up home in Cranleigh Road, Bridgwater, by this point, in a small terraced house they shared with the two children and Rosa’s widowed father, William.
By the summer of 1914, war was brewing over European shores, and Walter was quick to step up and support his country. He enlisted in the army on 14th October, joining the Somerset Light Infantry. He spent a year with the regiment, before transferring to the 22nd Wessex & Welsh Battalion of the Rifle Brigade.
By January 1916, Rifleman Knight found himself sailing for the Eastern Mediterranean, spending the next year in Egypt and Salonika. It was while he was overseas, in the spring of 1917, that he became ill and, having contracted tuberculosis, he returned to the UK.
Walter’s condition meant he was no longer fit for the army: he was formally discharged from the Rifle Brigade on 16th April 1917, having served for two-and-a-half years. He was admitted to the Cheddon Road Sanatorium in Taunton, the aim being to help manage his condition.
Rosa and the children had moved from Bridgwater by this point, settling in a small house in Ravensworth Terrace, Burnham-on-Sea. It is likely that Walter came here to visit the family during good spells in his health. The lung condition was to get the better of him eventually, however, and he passed away on 2nd March 1918, at the age of 30 years old.
Walter George Knight was laid to rest in the peaceful Burnham Cemetery, a short walk from where his grieving family lived.
(from findagrave.com)
Death and Service 