Walter Wallace Wickham

Photo and Bio courtesy of Sam Pestle

Walter Wallace Wickham was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 16th, 1894. His family later moved to Rockford, Illinois, and Walter graduated from Rockford High School in about 1913. He subsequently began a career as a machinist for the Barber-Colman Company (which was a manufacturer of textile and milling machinery) and denied any deferments from military service during the 1917 draft registration. Walter was inducted into the US Army on May 16th, 1918, and later assigned to Battery "A" of the 312th Field Artillery, 79th Division.

Pvt. Wickham sailed overseas aboard the SS Mesaba on July 14th, 1918, and arrived at Le Havre on August 6th. It was at this time that the 154th Field Artillery Brigade was detached from the 79th Division and sent southward to Lathus-Saint-Rémy to begin training on their new French guns. The 312th Field Artillery encamped in pup tents for several weeks and began learning AEF fighting techniques with their 155mm Schneider heavy artillery cannons. They later boarded trains in early September and moved to the training area at La Courtine.

The artillerymen of the 79th Division completed an additional month of training and conducted a live-fire graduation exercise before the Inspector General on October 17th, 1918. A unit history notes that the event "went off with clocklike precision and had excellent results." AEF General Staff deemed the brigade ready for frontline service and they were placed on the priority list for combat operations. The image seen below depicts Pvt. Wickham standing in a French photography studio and the card is dated October 13th, 1918, on the reverse.

Despite the expectation for deployment to an active sector, the 312th Field Artillery remained deficient in the number of cannons required to fight. It wasn't until November 6th that twenty additional guns arrived and the regiment was finally prepared to advance toward the frontlines. However, the Armistice was declared while the artillerymen were still stationed at La Courtine and the regiment never experienced combat. They were later stationed in several encampments around France while waiting to return to America. The 312th Field Artillery also had the remarkable distinction of not losing a single man to disease while overseas with the AEF; something which they attributed to the outstanding care of their medical staff.

Pvt. Wickham returned to the United States aboard the USS Virginian in May of 1919 and received an honorable discharge on June 3rd. His service number was 2692532.

Walter returned to Illinois after the war and later received a degree from the Chicago Technical School. He soon began a career as a Mechanical Engineer for the Ingersoll Milling Machine Company and was active in the Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Legion, and was a member of Star in the East Lodge #166 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. It is disheartening to learn that Walter died of a brain tumor at the age of 33 years on November 11th, 1928 (coincidentally the 10 year anniversary of the November Armistice). His funeral services were conducted at the local masonic lodge, followed by military rights and firing squad provided by the American Legion. Walter is now buried with a civilian gravestone in the Greenwood Cemetery of Rockford, IL. His stone thankfully includes accurate information regarding his military service.

https://www.findagrave.com/.../226.../walter-wallace-wickham