The Queens Own Royal West Kent R

The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment

Lance Sergeant W E S Warnett

Photograph by"Canarykid"

Lance Sarjeant Walter Edward Stanley WARNETT, L/9666, 1st Battalion, Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, killed in action, Flanders France, 19th September 1914.

Born Leicester, Leicestershire, son of Frank William & Edith Ada Warnett, St Augustines Cottages, Sevenoaks, Kent / 14, Dernier Road, Tonbridge, Kent.

1903, vaccinated.

12th January 1911 to 20th August 1911, enlisted Sevenoaks, Kent, age 17 years & 1 month, height 5ft 4⅝, weight 113lbs, blue eyes, light brown hair, scar right side of forehead, posted 3rd Battalion Special Reserve, Royal West Kent Regiment, 8211. Formerly electrician. 16th January 1911, re-vaccinated. 17th February 1911, 3rd Class Certificate of Education.

Consent to Enlistment - "We the under signed being the parents of Edward Warnett do hereby give our consent to his enlistment into the Regular Army, under the age of 18 years of age" - Mr Frank William Warnett (Father) / Mrs Edith Ada Warnett (Mother).

Enlisted Maidstone, Kent, age 17 years & 8 months, height 5ft 5⅞ inches, weight 122lbs, fresh complexion, grey eyes, light brown hair, scar right side of forehead, scar under right eye. Resided Sevenoaks, Kent. Formerly electrician.

Home, 21st August 1911 to 13th August 1914; BEF, 14th August 1914 to 19th September 1914.

21st August 1911, enlisted; 23rd August 1911 to 2nd October 1911, Bordon; 3rd October 1911, Dublin; 22nd November 1911, 2nd Class Certificate of Education; 21st December 1911, attained the age of 18 years; 23rd March 1912, appointed unpaid Lance Corporal; 18th May 1912, appointed paid Lance Corporal; 28th August 1912, Dublin, neglect of duty when in charge of Regimental Police, reprimanded; 11th November 1912, passed exam for promotion to Corporal; 2nd December 1912, posted Depot, Royal West Kent Regiment; 1st January 1914, promoted Corporal; 4th February 1914, posted 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 22nd May 1914, passed exam for promotion to Sergeant; 7th August 1914, appointed paid Lance Sergeant; 15th August 1914, posted BEF.

26th June 1919, Statement of Relatives - Father, none; Mother, Mrs Edith Ada Warnett, Cage Green, Tonbridge; Brothers - Frank Warnett, age 19, 14, Dernier Road, Tonbridge; Fred(erick) Warnett, age 17, 14, Dernier Road, Tonbridge; Stephen Warnett, age 14, Dr Barnardos Home, Woodford Bridge, Essex; Sisters - Elizabeth Warnett, age 21, 16 St Johns Road, Putney; Rosenia Warnett, age 10, 14, Dernier Road, Tonbridge; Ada Warnett, age 18, 14, Dernier Road, Tonbridge.

Buried at Vauxbuin French National Cemetery, II. D. 19., Aisne, France.

Exert from Aisne 1914 - The Dawn of Trench Warfare - "At Missy, D Company, 1st Royal West Kent's, came under heavy fire and a single shell killed three valued NCO's. Sergeant Fitzgerald, Sergeant Zebulum Barden and Lance Sergeant W. Warnett were vapourised."

Commemorated on Tonbridge War Memorial - Tonbridge War Memorial - The original World War I memorial at the Junction of Pembury Road and Quarry Hill. The names were later re-inscribed in the new Memorial Garden in Bradford Street.

From Tonbridge History - Walter Edward Stanley Warnett was born in Leicester in 1894, the son of Frank and Edith. The family were living at Greenwich in 1901 then moved to Sevenoaks and were in Tonbridge at the end of the war. Walter enlisted in the Army Reserve - Special Reserve at Maidstone on 12th January 1911, subsequently transferring to the Royal West Kent Regiment on 21st August 1911. He was still a serving soldier when the war began; he was promoted from Corporal to Lance-Sergeant on the 7th August 1914 and entered France just over a week later on the 15th August 1914. He was killed in action on 19th September 1914 and is buried at Vauxbuin French National Cemetery.

This page was last updated on 12-Feb-2023.