Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1911 Lucky Bag:

Walter Wynne Webster

Ducky Dan Noah

Expert Bar; Star (3, 2); Chairman Bible Study Class.

THE original hard-headed savoir of the Class. Has held down a number near the top ever since he left the wheat fields of North Dakota. Endowed with a remarkable memory, he can tell you the R. A. of any star in the celestial system for any date in the year. Recites in an injured tone of voice when called upon, as if complaining at the mere necessity. Is easily amused and giggles continually at the antics of Beak and Woody. Slow and methodical in his movements, but once get him going and you can’t stop him. Started fussing Second Class year, but finds more relaxation and amusement in poring over his famous interpolating chart of the celestial system. Lived with Squirrel Kingman in true Scandinavian felicity until First Class year. Ducky has spent many a midnight hour with chaps less savvy than he; doesn’t grease and couldn’t if he tried.

“Sir, I don’t just exactly see where they get this.”

---

Walter Wynne Webster was born in Fargo, North Dakota, July 28, 1888, and resided there up to his appointment to the Naval Academy. Three years and a half were spent in Fargo High School, during the last year of which he was the Editor in Chief of the High School publication.

Loss

Walter was lost on March 16, 1943 when the “two engine Navy bomber” he was aboard crashed near Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. The pilot of the plane, the only other person aboard, was also lost. (Information from now broken link at http://www.historicnewtownsquare.org/wp-content/uploads/2017-003-navy-crash.pdf)

He was manager of the naval aircraft factory at the Philadelphia Navy Yard at the time, and was en route to Washington, D.C.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Walter was a newsboy and carrier for the Fargo Forum. He was recommended to the Naval Academy by Congressman A. J. Gronna. After graduation in June 1911, Walter, his parents, and sister Florence were guests of Senators Gronna and McCumber for dinner at the Senate café.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walter was a member of the Naval & Architectural Society in the 1916 yearbook.

He married Maudess (Bidwell) Rawlings around 1925. Her first marriage was to William Rawlings on October 22, 1914. During WW I, she was a Navy Yeomanette. In March, 3, 1929, Walter and Maudess sailed from Cristobal, Canal Zone to New York City.

After Pearl Harbor, Walter was recalled from another assignment to take charge of the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia to superintend its expansion.

Walter’s father Charles was a bank clerk, mother Isabella. His siblings were: Florence, Helen, and Grant.

Walter earned his wings as naval aviator #4053 on September 11, 1934; he is listed as a “CDR (CC).” Unclear what the “CC” indicates.

He was a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

He was survived by his wife, who is buried next to him in Arlington National Cemetery.

Walter’s class ring, lost for 30 years, was returned to his wife in July 1949. (Information from the September 1949 issue of Shipmate.)

Photographs

From The Morning Post on March 17, 1943

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together, or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.

Namesakes

USS Webster (ARV 2) was named for Walter; the ship was sponsored by his widow.

Webster Field at Priest Point, Maryland, was named for him on June 1, 1943.

Memorial Hall Error

Walter is not listed with his classmates. He was identified through the diligent efforts of Leslie Poche, a volunteer who combed through Shipmate issues to find operational losses not accounted for in Memorial Hall.