Walter Henry Croft was born in the summer of 1889 in Botley, close to Southampton in Hampshire, the fourth of seven children born to William Croft and Martha Ann Baker. Walter’s siblings were: Sarah Ann, Emily, George, Gertrude, Alice and William Alfred. His youngest brother William also fought in the Great War and was killed at Ypres in July 1917. Their brother-in-law Bertie Parkins, who married Alice Croft, also died in France in 1917. The biographies of William and Bertie are also on this site.

When Walter was born his family lived in the charmingly named ‘Myrtle Cottage’ in School Lane, Weymouth and his father William was employed by the Devenish Weymouth Brewery as a ‘Drayman’.

By 1901 the family had moved back to the Botley area and were living at ‘Coledown’ where William was now a ‘Coachman’ at nearby ‘Coledown House’. It was William’s job as a ‘Coachman’ that brought the Croft family to Hemel Hempstead around 1906. They moved into Kemp Cottage on the Redbourn Road and William worked for the Elworthy family at ‘Grove Hill’.

Walter enlisted in the Regular Army in 1909, joining the 2nd Battalion Norfolk Regiment and by 1911 he was serving in Bombay, India in the 18th (Belgaum) Brigade, part of the 6th (Poona) Division, of the British Indian Army. On the outbreak of war, the Battalion was still in India and was mobilised and sent to Mesopotamia in November 1914. Mesopotamia was an area roughly corresponding to most of Iraq, Kuwait, parts of Northern Saudi Arabia, the eastern parts of Syria, South-eastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish–Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.

Throughout 1914 and most of 1915, Walter and the Norfolks experienced success in the fighting against the Ottoman forces. However, after the battle at Ctesiphon, 25 miles south of Baghdad in November, the British retreated and were pursued by the Ottomans who had also retreated but cancelled this when they saw an opportunity to chase the British.

The exhausted and depleted British force was urged back to the defenses of Kut-al-Amara and by the 3rd December the Ottomans had encircled the British and sent other forces down river to prevent reinforcements from marching to the relief of the garrison.

The siege of Kut-al-Amara began on the 7th December 1915 and lasted until the British surrender on the 29th April 1916, when the Ottomans took over 13,000 soldiers prisoner. Walter had been wounded in February and now found himself a prisoner of war.

The capitulation at Kut-al-Amara was described by one historian as "the most abject capitulation in Britain's military history” and considered by others to be the worst allied defeat in World War One.

The survivors of the siege were marched to imprisonment at Aleppo, during which many died. This followed an offer by the Ottomans to transport the men by boat, but this was rejected by the British for some reason. 70% of the British and 50% of the Indian troops died of disease or at the hands of their Ottoman guards during captivity.

Walter survived for four months before he too succumbed to illness, no doubt exacerbated by his wounds. He died in captivity on Thursday, 31st August 1916.

Walter is Remembered with Honour in Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq where he is interred in Grave XXI.R.37. The inscription on his headstone, requested by his mother Martha, reads: “HE DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE”.

He was 27 years old when he died

Walter was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.