Walter was born 15th March 1916 in Woolwich to Percy Alfred James Keeble a labourer and his wife Harriet nee Millen. He had two known younger brothers Alfred born 1920 and Arthur Percy born 1924. Sadly Walter’s father died in December 1925 and his mother went on to remarry to Ernest Neal in 1927. Tragedy was to strike the family again when Arthur was killed instantly by a six wheeled lorry when he ran out from behind a parked car near his home in Wickford Road, South Woodham Ferrers. He was just ten years old.
Walter married Georgina Lea in 1939 sometimes known as Gladys Gwendoline. When the 1939 registration took place they were living at Fallowfield, London Road in South Woodham Ferrers. Walter was working as a general labourer for Mr Theobold of Hays Farm, Battlesbridge.
At the age of 24 Walter joined the Essex Regiment and later transferred to the 4th Suffolk Regiment. Initially they were allocated to home defence duties but on 29th October 1941 the battalion embarked on the SS Andes at Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia where they transferred to the American transport ship Wakefield and set sail for Trinidad and onward to Cape Town, South Africa where they enjoyed a few days shore leave.
Initially the battalion was ordered to the Middle East but on 8th December 1941 Malayan time Japan not only attacked the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbour they landed troops in Northern Malaya and Southern Thailand with the intention of taking Singapore. This resulted in the battalion being ordered to Bombay where they recovered from their long journey. On 19th January 1942 they set sail again on the Wakefield for Singapore where they disembarked ten days later. On the 31st January 1942 the last of the troops on the Malayan mainland were evacuated to Singapore which would then be defended against the Japanese.
The causeway between the mainland and Singapore was destroyed but this hardly held up the Japanese who landed in the island on the night of 8th-9th February and, although the battalion did not see significant action, they still lost seven officers and 93 men before the garrison surrendered on 15th April. Walter, along with the rest of his battalion and all other Allied troops, was taken prisoner and was initially imprisoned at Changi Camp where he was put to work clearing the damage around Singapore Docks.
Initially Walter was reported as missing along with thousands of other servicemen. The Southend Standard of 30th April 1942 contains a request for news of him. After three weeks he and his mates were transferred to the mainland to work on the notorious Burma - Thailand Railway. Conditions in the work camps were appalling with diseases such as cholera, beri-beri, malaria, ring worm and dysentery were rife, beatings were commonplace and the men were overworked and underfed.
When the railway was completed in November 1943 the surviving members of the battalion were embarked on Japanese cargo ships, quickly referred to as hell ships due to the conditions, one of which was the Hofuku Maru a 5,825 ton 1918 built cargo ship. The Japanese refused to use markers to identify the ship as a prisoner of war carrier and as a result she was sunk by American aircraft eighty miles off Corregidor in the Philippines. Of the 1,289 British and Dutch prisoners who originally embarked 1047 died.
Georgina took letters of administration out on Walter’s estate estimated at £235 10s 10d today’s value about £13,000. The address given was Kiddles Cottage, Parney Heath, Dedham.
Walter is remembered on Column 55 of The Singapore Memorial as well as the commemorative plaque in St Mary’s Church Woodham Ferrers. As his parents lived at Runwell Road Wickford he is also remembered on Wickford’s War Memorial and Wickford Royal British Legion Roll of Honour. Also commemorated in Wickford is Stanley Maurice Henry 601919 4th Suffolk Regiment killed at sea on the same date so it is very likely that they knew each other.