Walter Walker (British Army Officer) - Military Career

Military Career

Walker then went to Sandhurst and in 1933 after a short attachment to the Sherwood Foresters, joined his grandfather's regiment, the 1/8th Gurkha Rifles in Quetta. In 1935 he survived the major earthquake that hit that city. The battalion moved to Assam in the aftermath where it remained until early 1939, Walker was appointed the battalion's adjutant in 1938.

In 1939, Walker moved with his battalion across India to Razmak, on the North West Frontier facing Waziristan, there had been turmoil on the Frontier since 1936, and operations were continuous, a mixture of defensive and offensive operations, some of them "punitive operations" against tribesman of the North West Frontier in India. Walker distinguished himself and was recommended for the Military Cross, he had come to senior officers' attention and was appointed staff captain at the Razmak Brigade headquarters. His attention to detail enabled him to excel in this role.

In 1942, Walker was selected to attend the Staff College at Quetta. After this he was appointed General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO 3) on the staff of Lieutenant General Slim's Burma Corps, joining them near the oilfields at Yenangyaung in mid April 1942. Walker remained with the HQ as it walked back to India, and was then appointed as an instructor at the Quetta staff college.

In early 1944, Walker was appointed second-in-command, alongside a new commanding officer, of the 4/8th Gurkha Rifles, who had suffered severely in the Arakan Campaign. In March the battalion was moved to the Imphal area where the Japanese had launched a major offensive and spent several months in hard fighting. In November he became the commanding officer, instigated a tough training regime and the battalion's motto - "Live Hard, Fight Hard, and when necessary Die Hard". Always a disciplinarian, he was a hard taskmaster and a totally professional soldier dedicated to hard training, and balanced by integrity, generosity and warmth.

In early 1945 he led the 4/8th Gurkhas, part of IV Corps, across the Irrawaddy River and hard fighting against the main body of the Japanese Army in Burma. In June he was appointed GSO 1 in his division’s (7 Indian Division) Headquarters, although circumstances dictated that he had to return part time to 4/8th Gurkhas as their commanding officer again. A highly unusual situation. At the end of the war he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and 7th Indian Infantry Division moved to occupy Thailand where Walker was involved in negotiating the surrender of Japanese forces in that country.

Walker’s first post-war posting was as GSO 1 to the Director of Military Operations in General Headquarters (GHQ), Delhi. When GHQ was transferred to Indian control in 1948 he handed over to a future Indian Chief of Army Staff and was appointed GSO 1 in Malaya District Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. At much the same time the Comintern held a conference in Calcutta and made the decision for insurrection against the colonial powers in South East Asia.

In 1948, the Emergency was declared in Malaya. Walker’s immediate role was to train and equip the irregular Ferret Force. In late 1948 he was appointed Commandant of the Far East Training Centre in Johore Bahru with the task of training British units, arriving from UK, in jungle fighting. He also highlighted the many deficiencies in equipment and neglect of the lessons learned in Burma. He then had his first posting to UK as a student at the Joint Services Staff College. In 1950 he was appointed to command 1/6 Gurkha Rifles. Walker created at superbly effective jungle fighting battalion with many notable successes, including killing high ranking communists, in the three years he was in command.

He was awarded a Bar to his DSO and in 1954, returned to UK as a senior (Colonel) staff officer in Headquarters Eastern Command where he was involved in planning and mounting the Suez operation in 1956. He also expressed the view that if he had been commanding at Port Said he would have used a Nelsonian eye to signals from London telling him to stop. However, as an up and coming senior officer he was selected as an observer to nuclear tests in Australia and subsequently lectures on nuclear battlefield.

In 1957, he was promoted to Brigadier and commander of 99th Gurkha Infantry Brigade Group in Malaya. This was the most demanding and important command in the Army with the task of finally defeating the most formidable remaining terrorists in Johore – Operation Tiger. A feature was Walker’s excellent relationship with and trust in Police Special Branch, painstaking development of intelligence and sustained ambushing. And his genius for training, and inspiring confidence and enthusiasm.

In 1959, 99th Brigade was sent to Singapore for the forthcoming elections. Walker was told to take charge of internal security throughout Singapore Island. The problem was 99th Brigade were highly skilled jungle fighters, urban Singapore was a foreign land, and internal security entirely new. Walker immediately instituted a typically thorough training program. Which include writing the manual on the subject, which did not exist. Internal Security in a City became the army standard on the subject. The elections passed peacefully. Walker relinquished command and attended the Imperial Defence College in London. He was unimpressed by the politically tuned officers and considered that politics was the business of politicians not soldiers. After the course, in 1961, he was promoted to Major General and appointed General Officer Commanding 17th Gurkha Division and Major General, Brigade of Gurkhas. 17 Division was the operational headquarters for all non-Malayan formations (99 Gurkha Infantry Brigade and 28 Commonwealth Brigade) and divisional units in Malaya.

Rumours about the axing of the Gurkhas emerged and Walker played an astute hand involving the King of Nepal and the US Ambassador there to protect them. It did not endear him to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and he came close to being sacked. However, on 8 December 1962, while he was in Nepal and some days walk from transport, a revolt broke out in Brunei. Walker reached Singapore 9 days later.

Walker was appointed COMBRITBOR on 19 December with command over all British forces (land, sea and air) in the colonies of Sarawak and North Borneo, and the protectorate of Brunei. The revolt was quickly mopped up and incipient revolts in Sarawak prevented by an influx of British and Gurkha troops. However, clues of Indonesian sympathy for the insurgents and emerging hostility caused Walker concern. The situation gradually evolved into the Confrontation. However, Walker was master of the situation and developed an effective operational concept and tactics to contain the threat and most importantly retain the military initiative. The outcome was a successful campaign ending in August 1966. Walker handed over as commander in December 1965. During the campaign he established good relations with the Labour Defence and Army ministers (Denis Healey and Fred Mulley).

He returned to the UK and was posted to NATO as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Plans, Operations and Intelligence, H.Q., Allied Forces Central Europe headquarters in Paris where his job was to plan and execute the headquarters move out of France. He accomplished this complex task on time and very efficiently. Promoted and knighted he was appointed General Officer Commanding in Chief of Northern Command in the UK. Finally in 1969 he was promoted to General and appointed NATO's Commander in Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe with headquarters in Oslo. This covered German Jutland, Denmark and Norway but had no direct command responsibilities in peacetime. Walker saw is role as publicising the threat. The region faced an overwhelming and expanding Soviet force and while he did not expect Soviet direct attack he did see a strategic threat of expanding influence aimed at neutralising the Nordic countries (and possibly beyond) and clearing the path into the North Atlantic. Pointing this out did not endear him to some politicians and even his NATO superior. He retired from the army in 1972.