Memory Project

Interview with Ian Fisher (Arthur Walwyn)

Published Online August 3, 2022

Last Edited May 3, 2023

This testimony is part of the Memory Project Archive

Interview with Ian Fisher (Arthur Walwyn)
Arthur Walwyn, a flying officer with the Royal Air Force, while on leave in England.
Arthur Walwyn, a flying officer with the Royal Air Force, while on leave in England.
Arthur Walwyn, a flying officer with the Royal Air Force, while on leave in England.
Arthur Walwyn, a flying officer with the Royal Air Force, while on leave in England.
Top: Arthur (left) and his siblings Pearce and (bottom row) Frances and William, before they left for war. Willam and Frances Walwyn also have profiles in the Memory Project Digital Archive.
Top: Arthur (left) and his siblings Pearce and (bottom row) Frances and William, before they left for war. Willam and Frances Walwyn also have profiles in the Memory Project Digital Archive.
Top: Arthur (left) and his siblings Pearce and (bottom row) Frances and William, before they left for war. Willam and Frances Walwyn also have profiles in the Memory Project Digital Archive.
Top: Arthur (left) and his siblings Pearce and (bottom row) Frances and William, before they left for war. Willam and Frances Walwyn also have profiles in the Memory Project Digital Archive.
Armistice Day on the Strand in London, England.
Armistice Day on the Strand in London, England.
Armistice Day on the Strand in London, England.
Armistice Day on the Strand in London, England.
Arthur and his sister Frances while in England. Frances Marion Walwyn served as a nurse in England during World War I.
Arthur and his sister Frances while in England. Frances Marion Walwyn served as a nurse in England during World War I.
Arthur and his sister Frances while in England. Frances Marion Walwyn served as a nurse in England during World War I.
Arthur and his sister Frances while in England. Frances Marion Walwyn served as a nurse in England during World War I.
Arthur in one of the RAF's planes. Although a member of the Air Force, Arthur managed to catch trench fever and end up in the Prince of Wales Hospital in England.
Arthur in one of the RAF's planes. Although a member of the Air Force, Arthur managed to catch trench fever and end up in the Prince of Wales Hospital in England.
Arthur in one of the RAF's planes. Although a member of the Air Force, Arthur managed to catch trench fever and end up in the Prince of Wales Hospital in England.
Arthur in one of the RAF's planes. Although a member of the Air Force, Arthur managed to catch trench fever and end up in the Prince of Wales Hospital in England.
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Arthur Walwyn was my grandfather, the youngest of three Walwyn children who served in the war, and I think perhaps to the chagrin of his elder siblings. His elder brother by a good five years, William, went to officer training, didn't immediately go overseas until 1916 or 17, and Arthur, the youngest brother, wanted to do his part and at the age of seventeen was able to sign up for the Air Force. They had lower age restrictions in that time, and so he was able to sign up, much to his family's horror, and was posted overseas ahead of his elder brother the officer.

Arthur flew over Normandy and over France, doing largely reconnaissance, because in that era there wasn't much bombing or dog fighting, because planes were pretty archaic. You see a picture of him in his plane and he looks like a twelve year-old. But he served with distinction during the war.

On leave, he was able to meet up with his brother and sister, who were also both serving, and miraculously all three of them came home safely with war experiences to tell.