Walter was born in 1895 at Romiley near Stockport. He was the son of Edward and Bridget Handley née Sexton. He was one of 14 children, however seven died young. The Handley family lived at 15, Emperor Street, Portwood, Stockport having moved from Romiley in the early years of the twentieth century. 

By 1911 with the family in Portwood, Walter followed his father into the hatting industry and was working as a felt hat blocker. His brother, John Edward, who also worked as a felt hat blocker, had married Elizabeth Barnard in the summer of 1910 and was living in George Street off Newbridge Lane, Stockport.

Walter Handley was an active member of the St. Joseph’s Church community and was a prominent figure at many social gatherings both at St. Joseph’s R.C. Church, Tatton Street Stockport and in Portwood. 

Walter volunteered to join the Army as soon as war broke out. He enlisted in the local Stockport Territorial Force, the 6th Battalion Cheshire Regiment. He probably joined one of the reserve battalions that were being formed at that time. After his initial training Walter was posted to the 1/6th Battalion arriving in France on 17th February 1915.

During 1915 the Battalion was attached to Headquarters and spent several months on guard and other duties at Rouen, Abbeville and Dieppe. On 29th February 1916 the Battalion joined the 39th Division which had just been mobilised and was arriving in France.

Walter was wounded and returned to England on two occasions.

The British had long planned a major offensive in Flanders. This was intended to smash through the German lines near Ypres (now Ieper) and drive towards the coast. The attack, scheduled for 31st July 1917 became known officially as the Third Battle of Ypres, but more commonly as The Battle of Passchendaele.

The Cheshire's were part of the reserve Brigade for its Division and were intended to overlap the leading troops once these had captured the initial objectives. The attack had been meticulously planned. An artillery bombardment of the German positions had been underway since 18 July so there was no element of surprise.

By 1am on 31st July 1917, 20 officers and 600 "other ranks" had assembled at a place known as English Farm at Wieltje (to the north east of Ypres). Zero hour had been set for 3.50am and the leading battalions set off for the initial objective - the village of St Julien, approximately a mile away.

Later in the morning, the Cheshires left their positions and advanced up the hill towards St Julien. The history of the Battalion records "On arrival at the Boche front line, the casualties had been fairly heavy, but the advance was maintained. The Steenbeck was crossed at 10am and the Battalion was re-organised for the final objective, intermittent fire being maintained whilst this was going on."

Throughout the morning, there had been a downpour of rain and the ground was quickly turning to deep mud. Despite these conditions, the advance continued at 10.30 and the final objective (described as the Green Line - some 1100 yards north east of St Julien) was taken at 11.05. The Cheshires had reached their objective exactly on schedule.

The position had been secured but at a terrible cost in dead and wounded. There were only 2 officers and 57 Cheshires left, together with 11 Black Watch and 8 Hampshires out of 60 officers and 1800 men. They had come three miles.

This was one of the rare successful advances along the whole of the front, that day. Neighbouring brigades had not been able to make as much progress and the Cheshires were now unsupported on their right. The enemy attacked through this gap and the Cheshires were forced to retreat at heavy cost, 118 men were killed including nearly 50 men from Stockport. Walter was among the many casualties.

This was the worst day of the war for Stockport.

After the battle Walter was posted as missing and it took until April 1918 that the authorities presumed that he had died. His body was never found. [Private Martin O’Brien 266366 Cheshire Regiment from St. Joseph’s Parish was also killed in this attack.]

Walter is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium, also at the Stockport War Memorial, Wellington Road South, Stockport and on the War Memorial in St. Joseph’s R.C. Church, Tatton Street, Stockport.

Rest in Peace...

1. Commonwealth War Graves Commission “Find War Dead”.
2. Stockport Advertiser 26 April 1918.
3. The National Archives of the UK, 1901 Census; Class: RG13; Piece: 3280; Folio: 157; Page: 16 and 1911 Census; Class: RG14; Piece: 21391 and 1911 Census; Class: RG14; Piece: 21398.
4. General Registry Office (GRO) Name: Handley, Walter, Mother's Maiden Surname: Taylor, GRO Reference: 1895 J Quarter in Stockport Volume 08A Page 103. There is a contradiction between the GRO information for Walter and the GRO information for the other children of Edward and Bridget which gives her maiden name as Sexton. This is confirmed by Free BMD showing a marriage between Edward Handley and Bridget Sexton in Stockport in July – Sept 1882 see Marriages Sep 1882, Handley, Edward, Stockport, Vol 8a Page131 and Marriages Sep 1882, Sexton, Bridget, Stockport, Vol 8a Page 131.
5. Army Medal Office. WWI Medal Index Cards. In the care of The Western Front Association website. Walter’s original Service No. was 2036.
6. Kelsall, David “Stockport Lads Together” Stockport Historical Society, 1989.
7. Hartley, John, “More than a Name” 2008. I am indebted to Hartley for the description of The Battle of Passchendaele.
8. Wells, Dominic “The Soldiers of St. Joseph’s Parish” 2018.
9. Thanks to Stockport Heritage Library.