Photos from World War One appeared regularly in the Aberdeen Weekly Journal as the Great War was unfolding.
On this day in 1915, there was an image of a Celtic-style memorial in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, with the headline, English Tribute To An Aberdeen Gunner.
A spot of investigation revealed that memorial was to commemorate the bravery of Gunner Walter R D Taylor of Aberdeen, who was stationed in St Neots in 1914.
He was on his way to serve with the 1st Highland Brigade in the killing fields of France.
Walter was 17, and with the 3rd City of Aberdeen Battery.
He was destined never to reach France, for he died in the River Great Ouse while rescuing a teenage girl from drowning.
That act of bravery was commemorated with a memorial erected by the inhabitants of St Neots and the officers and men of the 1st Highland Brigade.
Poignantly, the woman whose life Walter saved would later be buried as close to him as possible after her death some 34 years later.
How the tragedy unfolded
The tragic incident took place in August 1914.
Walter and three fellow soldiers of the 1st Highland from Aberdeen had gone to the River Great Ouse for a swim.
In those days there was a bathing shed for changing, but the men couldn’t use it as it was already occupied by women, so they had to wait on the bank.
Three girls got into difficulties
At that point, three teenage girls, Florence Peacock (18), Maud Andrew and Alice Mead (both 16) were attempting to swim to the opposite bank.
When they got into difficulties, Walter and his friends rushed to their rescue, managing to get Florence and Alice to safety.
Walter and Maud weren’t far from safety when they both went under, reappearing again in each other’s arms before again disappearing below the surface.
A punt arrived and the two were raised, using a pole. Maud was dragged onto the bank and successfully revived.
But Walter’s legs had become entangled in the weeds, and he was dragged down and drowned.
Grief-stricken
Walter’s comrades, and the townspeople of St Neots were stricken with grief at the events.
Walter was laid to rest at St Mary’s Church, in a military funeral and upon a hearse drawn by the soldiers, with those who were with him at the time acting as pallbearers.
Floral tribute from the girls
Among the many floral tributes from his comrades, local groups and individuals, was one which read: “In life long gratitude and deepest regret, Maud Andrew, Florence Peacock, Alice Mead.”
Walter became a local hero, and soldiers and townsfolk alike dug deep into their pockets to raise the £23 (almost £3k today) needed for the memorial.
The 7ft cross of Aberdeen granite was raised over his grave just a few months later.
The 110 year old story has a moving modern sequel.
Over time, the memorial fell into disrepair, before being restored by volunteer town council workers in 2004.
A service was held at the time to bless and rededicate the gravestone.
Maud’s daughter visited Gunner Walter Taylor’s grave
It also emerged that Maud’s daughter, Rosemary Henderson, made regular pilgrimages to Walter’s grave from her home in Southampton.
She was honouring a vow she made to her mother on her deathbed in 1948 to carry on paying her respects to Walter.
She was able to tell local researchers what had become of Maud.
Maud became a seamstress
She became a seamstress at the local department store and married a Londoner.
She moved to East Sussex, and died of cancer, aged 50.
No doubt scarcely a day went by when she didn’t think of the young Aberdonian who had sacrificed his life for hers.
The memorial reads:
Erected by the inhabitants of St Neots and Eynesbury and the officers. NCOs and men of the 1st Highland Brigade, RFA
In grateful memory of the noble deed of Gunner Walter R D Taylor 3rd City of Aberdeen Battery, who in helping save another’s life from drowning, lost his own on August 31, 1914 aged 17 years.
Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
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