Driver Walter James Pepper
| Date of Birth | c. 1891 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 27 |
| Date of Death | 12 September 1916 |
| Service Number | T/10542 |
| Military Service | 28th Division Train, Army Service Corps |
| Merton Address | 12 Waterfall Road |
| Local Memorial | Christ Church, Colliers Wood |
Additional Information
Walter James was the eldest son of Walter Hinds Pepper and Ada Jane Clark. His parents Walter Hinds and Ada Jane were in their early 20’s when they married at the local parish church in Mitcham on 26th July 1890.
The 1891 Census reveals that Walter Hinds was employed as a labourer living in Mitcham with Ada Jane, his wife and their 2 sons, Walter and William. Both boys were baptised at the Parish Church of St Peter and Paul in Mitcham on April 2nd 1893. Baptismal records reveal that the family were living at Bath Road in Mitcham.
Twenty one year old Walter James, who was employed as a labourer, married 21 year old Alice Chapman on April 10th 1910 at Christ Church Mitcham. The couple were recorded as living at 12 Waterfall Road in Colliers Wood.
The 1911 Census reveals that although Walter James and Alice had been married for less than one year, they were the parents of 4 year old Lilian Pepper, the family still resided at 12 Waterfall Road in Colliers Wood.
Walter James service record reveals that 18 year old was employed as a greengrocer when he enlisted on the 24th July in 1907. Walter James died from malaria and dysentery while serving in the Balkans theatre of war on the 12th July 1916. He is buried in the Anglo-French Cemetery in Salonika.
At the invitation of the Greek Prime Minister, M.Eleftherios Venizelos, Salonika (now Thessaloniki) was occupied by three French Divisions and the 10th (Irish) Division from Gallipoli in October 1915. Other French and Commonwealth forces landed during the year and in the summer of 1916, they were joined by Russian and Italian troops. In August 1916, a Greek revolution broke out at Salonika, with the result that the Greek national army came into the war on the Allied side. The town was the base of the British Salonika Force and it contained, from time to time, eighteen general and stationary hospitals.
The earliest Commonwealth burials took place in the local Protestant and Roman Catholic cemeteries. Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery (formerly known as the Anglo-French Military Cemetery) was begun in November 1915 and Commonwealth, French, Serbian, Italian and Russian sections were formed. The Commonwealth section remained in use until October 1918, although from the beginning of 1917, burials were also made in Mikra British Cemetery