Anzin-St Aubin British Cemetery, Arras. [Shown by kind permission of ww1cemeteries.com].

At the Census of 1901 Walter, aged 15, was living at 21 Richard St and already working down the Ironstone Mines as a labourer.
His father came from Sedgefield, Durham and is listed as a "Pedlar in tea and drapery"
His mother came from Potto, N Yorkshire.
He had an elder brother aged 25 and 3 older sisters, Laura 28, Amy 20 and Hilda 18.

The village of Anzin-St Aubin is on the north-western outskirts of Arras.
The British Cemetery is on the northern side of the village, turning right after the church on the D341 from Arras.
The cemetery was begun by the 51st (Highland) Division early in April 1917, and carried on by artillery units and field ambulances until October 1917.
It was then used by the 30th and 57th Casualty Clearing Stations.
The British launched a large scale offensive in 1917 at Arras.
This was one of the most important campaigns in which the BEF was engaged, yet in comparison with the Somme of 1916 and Passchendaele of 1917, terribly neglected by historians.
Although initially successful, it soon bogged down and became a terribly costly affair.
The British attack was against the formidable Hindenburg Line, to which the enemy had recently made a strategic withdrawal.
The battle can be considered to be composed of a number of phases: the Battle of Vimy and the First Battle of the Scarpe (a river in the area) were the opening phases.
The Second and Third Battle of the Scarpe and the final Battle of Bullecourt and other actions against the Hindenburg Line concluded the fighting.
Driver Swainston, whose job was presumably leading ammunition to the big guns, lost his life at the end of all this action.