Still a commander, he had been passed over for promotion to captain and indeed had been scheduled for early retirement. When the Second World War began in 1939, Walker's career seemed at an end. This was a posting he enjoyed, and he stayed there until 1939.
Similar postings followed to HMS Nelson and HMS Queen Elizabeth and in May 1933, he was promoted to Commander and took command of the destroyer HMS Shikari and then in December 1933, command of HMS Falmouth before becoming the Experimental Commander at HMS Osprey in April 1937. Walker was one of the first volunteers for specialist courses at the newly formed anti-submarine school, HMS Osprey at Portland in Dorset and by 1926 he was a Fleet Anti-Submarine Officer in HMS Revenge in the Atlantic Fleet. In 1919, Walker married Jessica Eilleen Ryder Stobart with whom he had three sons (Timothy, Nicholas and Andrew) and a daughter (Gillian). He first served in HMS Ajax as a midshipman in 1914 and then as a sub-lieutenant, he went on to join HMS Mermaid and HMS Sarpendon respectively and following the end of the First World War, he joined the battleship HMS Valiant. He passed out top of his class and received the King’s Medal. Early Life & CareerĬaptain Walker was born in Plymouth on 3 June 1896 and joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1909 and was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. Walker, the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force.
Sefton Council is immensely proud of its close association with the late Captain F. He was an unorthodox and inspirational officer who won great respect and affection from his men and was known more popularly as Johnnie Walker, after the whisky.Ĭaptain Walker held the command of the 36th Escort Group and the 2nd Support Group during the Second World War, which were both based in Gladstone Dock, Bootle, which is within the Borough of Sefton. Captain Frederic John Walker and the Battle of the AtlanticĬaptain Frederic John Walker CB, DSO and three Bars, was a Royal Navy officer noted for his exploits during the Second World War and was the most successful anti-submarine warfare commander who sank 20 German U-boats under his command, which is more than any other British or Allied Commander during the Battle of the Atlantic, which was one of the most important campaigns of the war.
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