
For Those in Peril
Charlie Owen(Author)
Troubador Publishing
Published on 28. June 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
120 pages
978-1-80514-475-5 (ISBN)
Description
In September 1897 James Holland Walker, aged eleven, entered the Hull Trinity House Navigation School and began a lifetime at sea. His uniform that year was almost identical to that worn by the young powder monkeys on Nelson's HMS Victory.
James first went to sea in 1901 as an apprentice on a Liverpool barque called the Santon and in 1904 still aged only seventeen, he was shipwrecked during a storm in the North Sea. This would be only the first of five occasions that he would find himself in a lifeboat, either of his own choosing or otherwise. His career would embrace both World Wars during which time he was shipwrecked courtesy of a German U-boat torpedo that cast all on board into shark infested water. He was involved in rescuing other mariners in peril on three occasions and was decorated for gallantry at sea five times, including by George V in 1931.
One of the rescues James undertook in 1929 was captured on film and can still be viewed today. Typical of his generation, James Holland Walker was a true White Star Line hero, and this is the extraordinary story of his life and career.
James first went to sea in 1901 as an apprentice on a Liverpool barque called the Santon and in 1904 still aged only seventeen, he was shipwrecked during a storm in the North Sea. This would be only the first of five occasions that he would find himself in a lifeboat, either of his own choosing or otherwise. His career would embrace both World Wars during which time he was shipwrecked courtesy of a German U-boat torpedo that cast all on board into shark infested water. He was involved in rescuing other mariners in peril on three occasions and was decorated for gallantry at sea five times, including by George V in 1931.
One of the rescues James undertook in 1929 was captured on film and can still be viewed today. Typical of his generation, James Holland Walker was a true White Star Line hero, and this is the extraordinary story of his life and career.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Market Harborough
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
170 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80514-475-5 (9781805144755)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Charlie Owen is a retired police officer who served for thirty years and has published four police related novels since retiring. James Holland Walker was Charlie's great-uncle and he has written this biography as part of a search to recover his five sea gallantry medals that went out of the family nearly fifty years ago.