A thread...
OTD At 16:00 hrs word got through to Bn HQ, 1/KSLI that Lt (A/Capt) J H Walcot and Lt M Vallance had both been wounded leading A Coy in a counter-attack at Les Moeres. Walcot was treated by the RMO of the DWR but died of his wounds #Dunkirk80 #SpyHistory
1/18

Lt (A/Capt) John Henry Walcot KSLI was buried at Houtem Churchyard, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
2/18

Walcot was born in 1915. His father was a @Proud_Sappers who had served in South Africa and on the Western Front. He won a DSO and numerous MiDs. Invalided due to ill-health in 1917, he died in September 1918 and is buried at St Mary the Virgin, Worplesdon.
3/18

Young John was educated at @WellingtonUK where he was described as “indifferent to games and work (in that order) and was completely wrapped up in the subject of horses”
4/18

Despite him apparently not enjoying games and academic study, he managed to win a prize cadetship to @RMASandhurst where he represented RMAS at rugby.
5/18

Walcot was Commissioned as a 2Lt in 1935 and posted to the 2nd Bn KSLI who were based at Aldershot In 1937, 2Lt Walcot was part of the contingent on parade for the Coronation of King George VI. In 1938 he was promoted to Lt.
6/18

He qualified as a First-Class Interpreter in French. He also undertook a course of instruction at @LSEnews. At the beginning of 1939 he was an Acting Captain and specially employed at the War Office within the Military Intelligence Directorate.
7/18

In March 1939 he married.
8/18

On the outbreak of war, he deployed with the BEF GHQ Intelligence Staff where he was responsible for assessing the German Order of Battle.
9/18

On 31st May, he went with his section to board a ship for home. After ensuring that his section was evacuated, he headed off back into Dunkirk where he joined the 1st Bn KSLI. He was a welcome addition to the Bn, though few knew him, because he was 2nd Bn man.
10/18

Following his death during the action at Les Moeres the following was recorded in the War Diary of the 1st Bn KSLI, “My God Sir, that gentleman was a fine officer."
11/18

But the story isn't over yet...
12/18

Some weeks later an escaped British PoW made it back to England and stated that he had been assisted by an officer from the KSLI. During the next few weeks other PoWs made similar statements and one thought the officer's name could have been Walcot...
13/18

A poster appeared in Lille stating that John Henry Walcot, Lt British Army was wanted for the murder of a German Feldwebel. It was reported that this man was working with the French Resistance #SpyHistory
14/18

At some point, Walcot was captured but managed to escape by jumping from a moving train and rejoined the resistance. A few days before D-Day in 1944 a message was broadcast to London from the French Resistance. It simply said, "Capt Walcot is dead"
15/18

"People who knew John Walcot very well have agreed that he was quite capable of carrying out the activities described. He did in fact speak fluent French and fluent German. He had taken part in an Army officer exchange programme in Germany some few years before the war"
16/18

The truth may never been known. When his family contacted the War Office, they were simply told, "Capt John Henry Walcot died of wounds on 1st June 1940"
17/18

Captain John Henry Walcot KSLI is commemorated in the Church of St Mary, Bitterley, Shropshire.
18/18

@threadreaderapp unroll