Walter Roman

Who was Walter Roman?

Walter James 'Rattler' Roman born in Bridgwater, was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s and '10s, playing representative level rugby union for Somerset, and at club level for Bridgwater Dreadnaughts, and Bridgwater & Albion RFC, alongside Robert Dibble, and Tommy Woods, and playing representative level rugby league for Great Britain, England, and Wales and the West of England, and at club level for Rochdale Hornets, again alongside Tommy Woods. Walter Roman served with the Somerset Light Infantry in the Second Boer War, and Cawnpore, from 1899 to 1907, and later in World War I. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme on Saturday 1 July 1916, his 36th birthday, he was admitted to the 12th Field Ambulance with hand, thigh, and leg injuries. He was evacuated from France on Wednesday 5 July 1916, and hospitalised in Cheltenham, his health initially appeared to improve, however he subsequently died of his wounds in Cheltenham.