Sailors marched through the streets of Bootle in memory of a naval hero who made history as the most successful anti-submarine commander of WWII.
The crew of HMS Mersey, paraded past the former home of Captain Frederic John Walker - who destroyed 17 enemy U-boats in his wartime career - as part of celebrations to mark the ship being bestowed the Freedom of the Borough on Thursday, April 14.
Officers from the naval patrol vessel, which is currently moored in Liverpool took part in the 100-strong parade from Bootle Town Hall with drums beating and bayonets fixed this morning.
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They passed by the house of Captain Walker in what Sefton mayor Clare Carragher called a "poignant" tribute. She said: “I am humbled by the sacrifice of those who have gone before us and those who serve in our armed forces today. To be the Mayor who bestows the Freedom of the Borough upon HMS Mersey is an honour.”
Captain Walker rose through the ranks of the Royal Navy from humble beginnings, having joined as a cadet in 1909. After excelling in training, he served on board the Mermaid and Sarpedon destroyers in WWI.
In the 1920s and 30s he took a course at the newly-founded anti-submarine warfare training school on the Isle of Portland, and rose to become a leading authority in underwater battle. When WWII broke out in 1939, he was 43-years-old and planning on taking early retirement - but postponed his plans to serve under Vice-Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay.
During the war, Captain Walker famously led a number of successful operations, sinking more U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic than any other British or Allied commander. The battle was the longest continuous military campaign of the war, running from 1939 until 1945, and was instrumental in securing the Allies' victory over the Nazis.
Tragically, Captain Walker would not live to see the end of the military campaign he worked so tirelessly for, as he suffered a cerebral thrombosis - a blood clot in the brain - on July 7 1944, and died two days later at the Naval Hospital at Seaforth, aged 48. His death was attributed to overwork and exhaustion.
In 1998, a statue of Captain Walker was unveiled at the Pier Head in Liverpool, where it still stands watching over the River Mersey.
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