ID: WW1_NAV

TitleWorld War I - Walter 'Navvy' Mussett
AbstractLocal people who served in World War I - Walter 'Navvy' Mussett.

Walter Mark Mussett born 1893
c1922 Walter married Edith Sampson (born June 1901)

Walter's adventures in WW1 are covered in detail in "Tollesbury to the Year 2000":
"During WW1 he was resting in a church in Belgium when a shell hit and shattered the crucifix. A large ruby from the palm of the figure of Christ, which represented the nail wound, hit Navvy below the knee and left a permanent scar. He was captured in Belgium in the trenches by the Prussian cavalry and was put to work in a gasworks in Berlin. He and his comrades managed to sabotage the works and he was sent to Poland to mine coal in appaling conditions for the rest of the war. When let out of the camp, he led a party of 50 desperate British soldiers from Poland to Rotterdam. It wook 3 months travelling on foot before they reached Rotterdam and sailed for England. There Navvy was arrested for threatening a lieutenant who swore at him, and for beating up the "redcaps" (military police), but he was released and returned home.
"...
"Walter was actually a Mersea man who had adopted Tollesbury and moved there when he married Edie Sampson.

Walter had more adventures in WW2 when he was skipper of the requisitioned yacht NARWHALE ...

SourceMersea Museum
IDWW1_NAV