Lieutenant Colonel, Commander of 2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Killed on Saturday 24th October 1914 , Ypres, Belgium, age 46.
Remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium, Panel 8.
Former Adjutant of the University of Manchester Officer Training Corps.
Walter, born on 3rd April 1868, was the sixth son of Reverand Edward Henry and Charlotte Loring. His father was Vicar of Cobham, Surrey and then Rector of Gillingham, Norfolk. As a boy he lived with his family at Ewshot where the family was held in high esteem. He lost his mother and sister when the steamer in which they were travelling to Australia to visit one of his brothers sank.
Following an education at Fauconberge School, Beccles and Marlborough College, he obtained a scholarship to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In August 1898 he married Violet Marshall, with whom he had seven daughters and three sons.
He joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in March 1889. He was promoted to Lieutenant in December 1890, Captain in April 1898 and Major in February 1904. In 1908 he was the first Adjutant to the Manchester University Officer Training Corps (O.T.C) that was formed as part of the army reforms that created the Territorial Force. He later moved to the Birmingham and Bristol O.T.C. . In April 1914 he was given command of 2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Before the First World War he served in India, Malta and with the mounted infantry in the Transvaal during the South African War (Queen’s Medal with four clasps).
In early October 1914 the battalion landed at Zeebrugee and from the 19th was in almost continuous action around Ypres and Menin. On the 23rd a large enemy force unexpectedly appeared on a flank and the battalion fought hard before finally being extracted with difficulty. During this time Lieutenant-Colonel Loring was hit in the foot by shrapnel and refused to go to hospital, opting instead to wrap his foot in a puttee. The Divisional Commander visited the battalion after this action and complimented them on their bravery and endurance and Loring on his skill in command.
On 24th October, early in the morning, another attack on the front line caused it to break. The Warwicks were sent forward again. Unable to wear a boot or bear weight on his wounded foot Loring chose to lead his men from horseback, thus exposing himself to greater risk. The Germans were cleared from a wood near Becelaere, but 109 men including several officers were lost. Two of Loring’s chargers were shot from under him and he was killed during the battle.
A staff officer who had witnessed the fighting described the admiration and devotion in which Loring was held by fellow officers and the men of the regiment. He had also been very active in helping young men through the Church of England Men’s Society.
Loring was mentioned twice in Sir John French’s despatches – 14th January 1915 and 31st May 1915. He has no known grave.
Two brothers were also killed in the war – Charles Buxton Loring, 21st December 1914 and William Loring, 24th October 1915.