Andrew Behan has kindly carried out some research on this man:
Private Walter John Verco was born on 8 April 1880 in Battersea, the son of George Verco and Kate Verco née Smith. His father was a Carman. At the time of the census that was taken on 3 April 1881 he was shown as an eleven months old child living at 8 Tritton Street, Battersea. He was baptised on 12 June 1887 at St John’s Church, Battersea and the family address was shown as 55 Hibbert Street, Battersea. It is from the baptismal record that his date of birth was obtained. The 1891 census shows the family living at 88 Maysoule Road, Battersea.
When on 6 December 1898 he enlisted into the Royal Marine Light Infantry, service number CH/10069, he gave his date of birth as 9 May 1880. On 14 April 1906 he married Agnes Eliza Hawkins at St Mary the Virgin Church, Monken Hadley, Barnet and his occupation was shown as a Stoker. At some point he was discharged from active service and allocated a reserve service number RMR/B/930 and in October 1910 he was appointed as a Postman in the London Postal Service. The 1911 census shows him living with his wife and two children, Walter John George Verco, aged 4 years and Eva Beatrice Verco, aged 1 year at 124 Falcon Road, Clapham Junction. In September 1912 he was transferred as a Postman to London’s Western District Office.
On the outbreak of World War One he was recalled to the Royal Marine Light Infantry and in October 1914 he was aboard the cruiser HMS Hawke which formed part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, that had been operating on blockade duties between the Shetland Islands and Norway. The squadron was deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking a troop convoy from Canada. On 15 October 1914, the squadron was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 10 miles. HMS Hawke stopped at 9.30am to pick up mail from sister ship HMS Endymion. After recovering her boat with the mail, HMS Hawke proceeded at 13 knots (15 mph) without zig-zagging to regain her station, and was out of sight of the rest of the squadron when at 10.30am a single torpedo from the German submarine U-9 (which had sunk three British cruisers on 22 September), struck HMS Hawke, which quickly capsized. The remainder of the squadron only realised anything was amiss, when, after a further, unsuccessful attack on HMS Theseus, the squadron was ordered to retreat at high speed to the northwest, and no response to the order was received from HMS Hawke. The destroyer HMS Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for HMS Hawke and found a raft carrying one officer and twenty-one men, while a boat with a further forty-nine survivors was rescued by a Norwegian steamer.
Aged 34 years, he was one of the 524 personnel aboard who died. His widow was notified of his death on 23 October 1914 at their home address which by now had been 24M Sutton Model Dwellings, Chelsea. As he was lost at sea he is also commemorated on Panel 7 of the Chatham Naval Memorial. He was posthumously awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal.
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