Walter John Verco was born on 8 April 1880 in Battersea, Surrey (now Greater London), the younger child of George Verco (1856-1951) and Kate Verco née Smith (1852-1932). His birth was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1880 in the Wandsworth Registration District, Surrey (now Greater London). On 12 June 1887 he, together with his sister, Mary Ann Verco (1878-1889), was baptised at St John's Church, Usk Road, Battersea, where in the baptismal register his family was shown to be living at 55 Hibbert Street, Battersea and that his father was a carman. Confusingly, the UK, Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 gives his date of birth as 9 May 1880 but we have opted for the 8 April 1880 date as it is the more contemporaneous record.
He was shown as an 11-months-old child on the census that was taken on 3 April 1881. This too would more accurately reflect the choice of his birth date being the 8 April 1880. He was living at 8 Tritton Street, Battersea, with his parents and his sister. He was described as a carman.
When the census was compiled on 5 April 1891 he was shown as aged 11 years and living in three rooms within 88 Maysoule Road, Battersea, London, with his parents. His father continued to listed as a carman.
When on 6 December 1898 he enlisted into the Royal Marine Light Infantry, service number CH/10069, he gave his date of birth as 9 May 1880. At some point he was discharged from active service and allocated a reserve service number RMR/B/930.
On 14 April 1906 he married Agnes Eliza Hawkins (1886-1969) at St Mary the Virgin Church, Monken Hadley, Barnet, Middlesex (now Greater London) where in the marriage register he is shown as aged 26 years, a bachelor and a stoker, who was living in Battersea, the son of George Verco, a roadman, whilst his wife was described as aged 20 years and a spinster, who was living in Monken Hadley, the daughter of John Hawkins, a printer.
Electoral registers in 1908 show him listed at 14 Afghan Road, Battersea and in 1909 at 32 Joubert Street, Battersea. In October 1910 he was appointed as a postman in the London Postal Service.
When he completed his census return form on 2 April 1911 he described himself as aged 30 years and a Post Office sorter who was living in three rooms within 124 Falcon Road, Clapham Junction, London, with his wife and their two children: Walter John George Verco (1907-2001) and Eva Beatrice Verco (1909-1992). His son was to become Sir Walter John George Verco, K.C.V.O., the Norrey-Ulster Herald, a position he held from 1971 to 1980.
In September 1912 he was transferred as a postman to London’s Western District Office.
On the outbreak of World War One he was recalled to the Royal Marine Light Infantry and in October 1914 he was aboard the cruiser HMS Hawke which formed part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, that had been operating on blockade duties between the Shetland Islands and Norway. The squadron was deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking a troop convoy from Canada. On 15 October 1914, the squadron was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 10 miles. HMS Hawke stopped at 9.30am to pick up mail from sister ship HMS Endymion. After recovering her boat with the mail, HMS Hawke proceeded at 13 knots (15 mph) without zig-zagging to regain her station, and was out of sight of the rest of the squadron when at 10.30am a single torpedo from the German submarine U-9 (which had sunk three British cruisers on 22 September), struck HMS Hawke, which quickly capsized. The remainder of the squadron only realised anything was amiss, when, after a further unsuccessful attack on HMS Theseus, the squadron was ordered to retreat at high speed to the northwest and no response to the order was received from HMS Hawke. The destroyer HMS Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for HMS Hawke and found a raft carrying one officer and twenty-one men, while a boat with a further forty-nine survivors was rescued by a Norwegian steamer. Aged 34 years, he was one of the 524 personnel aboard who died.
His widow was notified of his death on 23 October 1914 at their home address which by now had been 24M Sutton Model Dwellings, Chelsea. He was posthumously awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal. As he was lost at sea he is commemorated on , 61 King's Bastion, Gillingham, ME7 5DQ.
He is shown as 'VERCO, W. J.' on the Western Postal District war memorial in Mount Pleasant. He is also commemorated on the , on the , on the , on the and on .
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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