Service Details
Name:
RAINBOW
Given Name:
WALTER THOMAS
Initials:
W T
Service No:
4655
Rank:
Corporal
Other Casualties of this Rank
Regiment:
South African Infantry
Other Casualties from this Regiment
Unit:
2nd Regt.
Other Casualties from this Unit
Unit 2:
"A" Coy.
Other Casualties from this Unit
Date of Death:
1916-07-14
Other Casualties on this Date
Age:
26
Cause of Death:
Killed in action, at Montauban-en-Picardie
Additional
Information:
Son of the late Henry and Mary Rainbow, of Hanslope, Bucks, England. Also served in German South-West Africa and in Egypt. Born in 1890, in Hanslope, Buckinghamshire, England. Walter was the third surviving son of Henry and Mary Rainbow, of Barnwell Buildings, Hanslope, who apprenticed as a railway Coachmaker at Wolverton Carriage Works, Buckinghamshire, before emigrating to South Africa, in the early 1900s, to join his elder brother Henry James Rainbow and his wife Louie at their home in Red Hill, Durban. Whilst in South Africa, Walter enlisted in the colonial regiment, rising to the rank of Sergeant, fighting alongside General Louis Botha's troops, in the German South West Africa campaign 1914-1915. When the African campaign concluded, Walter was entitled to his discharge from service, but honourably, he decided to continue his service, this time for his native homeland, enlisting with the South African Oversea Expeditionary Force on the 24th August 1915, giving up his Sergeant's stripes and returning to England as a plain Tommy Atkins. After a short stay at Bordon Military Camp, Hampshire, he embarked with his regiment from Devonport, Plymouth, on-board HMT Saxonia, 29 December 1915, en route to Marseilles, France via Alexandria, Egypt. Having been promoted to Lance Corporal during his time in England, Walter played a heroic part as a machine gunner in the trenches and with his comrades, engaged in the British troops "push" at the Somme, where, the day before the Battles of Delville Wood and Bazentin Ridge, he sadly met his death. Commemorated on a roll of honour and memorial at the Church of St James the Great, Hanslope, Buckinghamshire.
Commemoration
Country:
France
Other Casualties commemorated in France
Locality:
Somme
Other Casualties commemorated in Somme
Cemetery:
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Other Casualties commemorated in this Cemetery
Grave Reference:
Pier and Face 4 C.

Information to contribute? Noticed an error or wish to Request a Photo ~ Click here ~

This information was last verified for accuracy: 2018-01-10
 
 

Send us an email...

  • I wish to
     Contribute some information
     Report a problem
     Request this image

Sending your message. Please wait...

Thanks for sending your message! We'll get back to you shortly.

There was a problem sending your message. Please try again.

Please complete all the fields in the form before sending.