Walker, Robert
Robert Walker – HMS Shark
‘We roam all over the seas unchallenged and defiant’
When war was declared in 1914, Robert Walker was one of the many Australians who didn’t serve in the Australian Imperial Force, but instead due to circumstance offered his services to the British Armed forces.
Robert Walker was born in Fremantle on the 19th of February 1893 to Charles & Annie Walker. Charles Walker was a well known boat builder in the Fremantle area and the family resided at 21 Tuckfield Street Fremantle. From his home Robert only had a short distance walk to attend the nearby Fremantle Boys School where he excelled. His time here corresponded to when the future Field Marshall Thomas Blamey taught at the school and he may have even fallen under his tutelage. Nevertheless in 1905 Robert was awarded a scholarship of 50 Pounds value for 4 years which enabled him to continue his study at Scotch College in Claremont.
For the next 6 years Robert traveled daily from his house in Fremantle to attend Scotch College, where he continued to excel. In his last year at Scotch in 1910 he was a prefect and also on the staff of the school newspaper, the “Reporter”. While at Scotch, Walker, along with several good friends including fellow student Dick Caldwell spent much of their spare time sailing and rowing on the Swan River. However in the last year at Scotch, leisure time was sparse between the many hours of study. All the hard work paid off for Robert as in 1910 he became the Dux of Scotch College.
(Scotch College prefects - Robert 2nd right back row)
In 1911 Robert craved to further his education as he wanted to study medicine. He won the first Western Australian University Exhibition and travelled to Adelaide where he won second place on the on the General Honours list of Adelaide University. He received Special Honours in Modern History, Greek, Latin, French & Pure Mathematics.
It seems he had narrowly missed out on a Rhodes scholarship, but his success at Adelaide University won him a place as a Student of Medicine at Edinburgh University in Scotland. His dream realised, Robert headed for Scotland in 1912. His aptitude soon showed itself very clearly as from 1912 to 1915 he won Edinburgh University medals for his study in Physics, Chemical Physiology & Anatomy.
Although study and course work took up a large amount of time, Robert still had time for other pursuits and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The declaration of war co-incided with Robert’s final years of study but he had no hesitation of serving the Royal Navy. However it was not until the 23rd of July 1915 that he was given his seniority by the Royal Navy. He was given the rank of Surgeon Probationer and a month later was posted to HMS Lynx, but on arriving at his destination he was told that the Lynx had been mined in the North Sea. The authorities re-assigned Robert to HMS Shark. The Shark was a K-Class Torpedo Boat Destroyer built in 1912 of 950 Tons (From Royal Navy List & Janes) with 3-4 inch guns, four 21 inch torpedo tubes, with 23,000 to 25,000 horsepower which equaled to 31-32 knots.
In a letter home to his old college, Robert describes some of his initial experiences.
‘My experience of the Navy is one that I am not likely to forget. I applied for my commission and was appointed to HMS Lynx. After all my preparations and arrangements were complete I traveled to ----- to join my ship. It was a long, tedious journey of some days duration, and I was at last glad and relieved to be able to report myself to Senior Naval Officer, preparatory to going on board my first ship. Can you imagine my feelings when this officer congratulated me on my good luck and narrow escape. My ship had been mined that very morning, and 74 men were lost! A narrow escape indeed. I was then recalled to the Admiralty and appointed to the H.M.S. Shark. Fortunately I was more lucky this time, and I got on board this ship without mishap, and here I have been ever since.’
‘I cannot tell anything concerning this ship or her movements – only that the latter are sometimes too numerous and varied for my palate. We roam all over the seas, unchallenged and defiant; and we are proud to think that we are pretty safe from any hostile submarines, in that we have now disposed of them all. Now I am attached to the Grand Fleet, and, of course, have daily opportunities of seeing sights that I will never forget; and I am convinced that should “Der Tag,” when the fleets meet come, there will only be one in it and that one will certainly not be the German’.[1]
The HMS Shark was then one of the many ships that patrolled the waters of the English Channel on watch for marauding ships of the German Navy. This was a daily occurrence in Robert Walker’s first 10 months on the ship. After receiving some mail and news from home, Robert wrote back & congratulated his old mate Dick Caldwell[2] for being awarded Scotch’s 2nd ever Rhodes scholarship, and as for himself, the ship;
‘is still tossing round the North Sea, keeping an unceasing vigil in all weathers. We have our times of excitement and lately have been having some good “thrills” but of these I must remain silent. Suffice to say, we are ever ready at a moment’s notice to strafe and strafe thoroughly any number they like to send against us. The navy is doing a power of work every day and every night, too, of which nobody knows anything at present.’ [3]
Little did Robert then know that by late May his ship would be destined to play a large role in the largest sea battle of the First World War, the Battle of Jutland.
By May 31st 1916 the Battle of Jutland had already begun, with the two great Navies trading opening blows. In response to a German attack on their ships, Admiral Hood ordered HMS Shark, one of the 4 screening destroyers for the Battle Cruiser HMS Invincible, to attack the oncoming German ships.
“The British Destroyers led by Captain Loftus Jones in the Shark, accompanied by Acasta, Ophelia and Christopher, turned towards the enemy with thick smoke pouring from their funnels and bow waves streaming over their narrow fo’c’sles. Their attack foiled the German onslaught, so that only twelve torpedoes were fired, all of which were skillfully avoided. But the Shark and the Acasta were severely mauled”[1].
The attack was made with such fearlessness by the 4 destroyers that the Germans were forced to turn away, but at a large cost to the Shark. Its commander, Loftus Jones was mortally wounded as German shells continued to hit the ship. Robert Walker attended the many casualties despite being under devastating German fire.
“Under heavy enemy gunfire HMS Shark suffered steerage damage and was disabled. As a spare torpedo was being hoisted prior to being launched into the tube, it was struck by a shell with a violent explosion causing heavy casualties. The ship continued to sink and was heavily fired upon…………One by one the wounded crawled brokenly into the lee of the casings and funnels in pitiful attempts to find shelter; among them knelt the devoted figure of the surgeon endeavoring single handed to cope with his gallant hopeless task. When last seen he was bandaging a man who had lost a hand when the torpedo exploded. He was then himself severely wounded and was apparently shortly afterwards killed.”[2]
HMS Shark sank shortly afterwards and Robert Walker was never seen alive again, nor was his body recovered. Along with other missing sailors from the battle, he is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. The Shark’s commander, Loftus Jones, was later awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions.
Robert’s parents back home in Tuckfield Street received the terrible news of his death and among those giving sympathy a cablegram was received from the Keeper of the Privy Purse which read;
‘The King & Queen deeply regret the loss both you and the navy sustained by the death of your son in the service of his country. Their Majesties truly sympathise with you in your sorrow.’
A glowing tribute was also printed in the Edinburgh University magazine.
‘By the death of Surgeon-Probationer Robert Walker, who was killed in action on 31st May, the University has lost an especially brilliant and popular student. Before he left his home in Western Australia, Walker had shown that he was a student of more than passing scholastic ability. His activities in Edinburgh were mainly confined to the pursuit of his medical studies, and in all the varied branches of this study he showed consistent brilliancy – winning in all nine medals. In Anatomy, perhaps no student has shown such consistent proficiency as Walker, in which he won four medals, a Mackenzie and a John Aitken Carlyle Bursary, the Cunningham Memorial medal, and the Van Duns Scholarship…’
By reason of his almost phenomenal success in various examinations held, Walker had become well known, and was deservedly popular amongst his fellow students. As evidence of his popularity on H.M.S. “Shark”, he was asked by the officers of that ship to stop with them instead of accepting the honour of promotion to H.M.S. “Tipperary” which was offered him. He elected to remain on H.M.S. “Shark” and died fighting as one of those who showed such heroic fortitude, when subjected to a murderous fire as they lay helpless and crippled; and thus perhaps the most brilliant student of this year has added his name to the already long list of Edinburgh University heroes, and at the same time to the roll of loyal Australian sons.’[3]
A Dr R Burns, who knew Robert, wrote another tribute from his position at the Naval Infirmary at Hull;
‘There is great consolation in that he died like an Australian, in the midst of his duties. The gunlayer of that famous last gun and the coxswain of the Shark are here. They speak in the very highest terms of “Bob” – of his kindliness and skill in the days before the great action, and of his unquestioned valour when the guns began to boom. The Shark, these men say, had all her steering gear shot away first of all. Shortly afterwards she was torpedoed in her oil tanks. This prevented her getting oil to her engines and she became a stationary target. They then got the concentrated fire of “fully twenty ships” everything being swept off the decks except one gun. This the Captain manned himself. Both the coxswain and gunlayer before this saw “Bob” busily working among the wounded. The last they saw of him was in striving to reach a badly wounded man just after having attended to another. When “Bob” left him the coxswain distinctly remembers him holding his instrument bag in one hand, himself wounded, reaching out towards a wounded comrade with the other. A hurricane of metal swept the ship and he was killed. A glorious death, but sad in that he was so young, so brilliant, and every inch a man. He was everybody’s pal.’
Had Robert Walker lived who knows to what height his study of medicine would have taken him. By all reports he had a brilliant mind and his loss was a tragic one for both his family and the wider community.