Remembering 2nd Lieutenant Walter Balshaw, 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment
09 Dec 2014
Killed in action on Monday, 20 October 1914 near La Bassee, age 24
In August, the University published a special website, World War 1 Centenary, to commemorate the centenary of the start of the Great War.
During the next four years, the website will pay a monthly tribute to a student or member of staff who lost their lives in WW1, 100 years after they died.
This month, it features 2nd Lieutenant Walter Balshaw, who was born in 1890 at Bolton and entered the University of Manchester in 1910 to study science. Whilst at the University, he played cricket, gaining the “Christie” bat for bowling and his colours in 1913. At the outbreak of war Walter was an Assistant Master at Lancaster Grammar School, but he was about to take up an appointment on the staff of Fareham School, Hampshire. He has no known grave.
Although the University has basic biographical details for all of the fallen, their wider stories have often been lost. If you have any documents or images relating to the part played in WW1 by former students, members of staff or the University itself, please contact:
- James Hopkins, University Historian and Heritage Manager, on 63075 or james.hopkins@manchester.ac.uk