Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
Walter Alfred Cox was born at Travancore, South West India, in about 1876. He was the son of John and Anna Cox and had three brothers and three sisters, all born in either India or the Far East.
He was aged 39 when he enlisted at Gidea Park, Essex, in December 1915, giving his occupation as ‘tea planter’. He gave his address as ‘care of A J Morton-Ball, The Green, Stroud’. Mr Morton-Ball was a prominent figure locally who was Chairman of the Finance Committee dealing with the housing of refugees from the continent at the outbreak of the war.
His initial posting was to the 18th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, where he was given the number C8007. His stay with them proved short. On 6 March 1916 he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) (Infantry), where he acquired the number 26596. On the 12th of the same month he was promoted to Lance Corporal. On 30 March he was admitted to the Military Hospital located at Belton Park, Grantham, Lincolnshire, which was the MGC’s Training Camp, suffering from malaria — no doubt a legacy of his time spent on the sub-continent. He died, as a result of malaria on 12 April 1916, aged 39, after just over four months in the Army and approximately five weeks with the MGC.
The connection with Woodchester, which resulted in his remains being brought there from Grantham, is unclear. The 1901 census does show two individuals with the surname of Cox living in the village, 34 year old William and Kate, aged 23. Possibly the connection with A J Moreton- Ball, who, with Walter’s mother still living in India, handled all the local correspondence relating to his death, also has relevance.
Lance Corporal Cox’s grave, in Woodchester (St Mary) Churchyard, is marked by a standard CWGC headstone.
Researched by Graham Adams 5 March 2018
(Acknowledgement to extract from Nick Thornicroft’s The War Dead of Amberley, Box and Woodchester, published in The Great War magazine, Issue 96 March 2018)