Clayton W J Sergt 2267 9th London Regiment
SERGEANT WALTER JOHN CLAYTON, 9th Battalion London Regiment, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Clayton of Hillside, Ditton Hill, Surrey, was born in 1885. He was a fine athlete, and at Cheltenham College, where he was educated, he represented the school at both Cricket and Football. In 1902 he entered his uncle’s firm, Clayton and Aston, and later on became a member of the Stock Exchange and of the firm of Clayton and Sons.
At the outbreak of war he joined the Inns of Court O.T.C., but, in his anxiety to get to the Front, he enlisted in the 9th Battalion London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) and went to France in November. Soon after he was promoted to Sergeant and on several occasions was offered a commission, but said that he would prefer to stay with his men.
He served in the trenches all through that terrible first winter, and was killed at the battle of Hill 60 on 19 April, 1915.
One of his fellow sergeants wrote: “I had been with him since the start and there was no more popular man in the Regiment. He will never be forgotten by any of us.”
Sergeant Clayton had a fine voice and did splendid work in organizing concerts and sports for his men.
Source : The Stock Exchange War Memorial 1914-1918