BORN HULL, 07/09/1886. SON OF ADA ANNIE & THE LATE JOHN WALLER,OF 300A HESSLE ROAD, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS). ONE OF FIVE SONS AND FOUR SONS WHO SERVED IN THE WAR. JOHN WALLER SERVED WITH THE 6TH EAST YORKSHIRE PIONERRS. HE TOOK PART IN THE SULVA BAY LANDINGS. HE WAS KILLED DURING THE TERRIBLE FIGHTING AT “CHOCHOLATE HILL”, ON 21/08/1915, AGED 28.
ONE OF HIS BROTHERS WAS A PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY. ANOTHER BROTHER, CHARLES WALLER, ROYAL NAVY, WAS LOST AT SEA IN 1912. (HULL DAILY MAIL PHOTO & STORY, 21/08/1916).
Article in the Hull Daily Mail, picture of John William Waller. Private John Waller East Yorkshire Regiment 6th Pioneer Battalion, killed in action at the Dardanelles on August 21st 1915. He was the son of Mrs Waller of 300a Hessle Road who some time ago received a letter of congratulations from the king on the fact that she had four sons serving in the army. Mrs Waller has lost two out of her five sons during the war-Charles losing his life at sea, of her remaining sons, one is a prisoner of war in Germany and the other in the East Yorkshire Regiment. Private John Waller who was 28 years of age was killed during the terrible fighting at Chocolate Hill on August 21st 1915. He took part in the famous landing at Suvla Bay.
21st August 1915 – the attack on Scimitar Hill
Wyrall’s “East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War” shows that the 6th East Yorkshire Regiment had been in reserve from 10th to the 20th August at Nibrunesi Point where they had dug themselves in at the base of a cliff. On 20th August the 6thEast Yorkshires relieved the Northumberland Fusiliers in trenches South East of Chocolate Hill. They came under the orders of 34th Brigade who would attack “Hill W” the next morning.
The 6th Battalion were to dig in and support the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Dorset’s, who would attack the next morning. There was a delay due to lost orders and confusion, and the attack did not commence until 3pm on the 21st. When the Dorset’s and Lancashire’s left their trenches the 6th East Yorkshires moved forward to occupy these trenches. The Dorset’s and the Lancashire’s ran into stubborn resistance and so most of the 6th East Yorkshires were sent forward to support them. The 6th East Yorkshire‘s captured a Turkish trench in front of them and awaited relief. The 6th East York (Pioneers) had occupied Hill 70 (Scimitar Hill), next to W Hill the most vital of all the semicircle of heights overlooking Suvla Bay and were there only waiting for the brigade’s further advance upon W Hill or Anafarta Sagir, to both of which it is the key. They held this trench overnight, but it became impossible to hold the next morning (22nd August) as the number of Turks increased and they had no bombs. Around 7.30 am the 6th East Yorkshires retreated to their original trenches and later that night they were relieved and moved back to their original reserve trenches at Nibrunesi point the following morning. The 6th East Yorkshire casualties by 22nd August 1915, included 26 Officers and 628 men. Officer casualties were 80% and other ranks 68%.
