Harold Guy “Harry” Walker (b.1895)
Harry Walker was born in Harrowsmith, Ontario.1) He came north in the early days of the gold rush and mined on Sulphur Creek.2) Walker was working as a machinist in February 1917 when he enlisted to serve in the First World War.3)
Walker left Dawson with Boyle’s unit and arrived in France in August 1916. He wrote from London in January 1918 with advice on the fur trade and plans to get back to the Yukon as soon as the war was over.4) Private Walker was awarded the Military Medal for devotion to duty when he assembled a machine gun under fire during a November 1916 offensive at Grandcourt Trench. He and Corporal Anthony Blaikie, with Privates David Roulston and Ernest Peppard, and Sergeant Frank McAlpine, earned medals and were singled out for recognition for their actions at Grandcourt Trench. A month after that battle they were fighting during the assault of Regina Trench (Staufen Riegel).5)