Walter Hardy

Private, Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry

Walter Hardy was a student at Alleyn’s until 1903 and lived at 18 Oakhurst Grove, East Dulwich during this time. After leaving school, he moved to Canada and was still abroad when the First World War broke out in August 1914. Walter was keen to carry out his duty for his country leading him to join the war effort early on as part of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, a unit raised and funded by Captain Andrew Hamilton Gault in 1914. It was the first Canadian unit to enter a theatre of war, arriving on the Western Front in December 1914. Walter served as a Private with the Patricia’s and saw action in France and Flanders during his time overseas. In the summer of 1916, the unit took part in the Battle of Mount Sorrel and was holding the line near Ypres in July. It was during this time that Walter was killed in action on July 5^th 1916. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.