Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of William Pick, a farm shepherd, born 1874 in Pickwell, Leics., and his wife Violet Annie Pick (nee Glenn, married in the 3rd quarter of 1895 in the Melton Mowbray, Leics. district), born 1875 in Langham, Rutland. Walter Pick was born in the 1st quarter of 1897 in Burrough on the Hill, Leics., his siblings were, Martha, born 1896 in Somerby, Leics., and Mabel, born 1899 in Hoby, Leics., in March 1901 the family home was in Hoby, Leics. In April 1911 Walter was employed in farm work and was residing in the family home in Hoby, Leics., together with his father, a shepherd, his mother and sister, Mabel, a schoolgirl. His mother later resided at 42, Chatham Street, Leicester. Walter enlisted into the Royal Marines on the 8th September 1914 in Nottingham, and was allocated the service number, 17710. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 7½ inches in height, and his complexion was described as fresh, his hair colour was brown and he had grey eyes, it was noted that he had a large birthmark on his left cheek. He gave his date and place of birth as the 1st December 1895 in Burrough on the Hill, Melton Mowbray, Leics., and his trade or calling as butcher, he gave his religion as Church of England. He gave his father William of 36, Victoria Road, Humberstone, Leicester, this was then changed to his mother, Annie Pick of Leesthorpe Grange, Melton Mowbray, Leics., as his next of kin. His record of service began when he joined the Recruit Depot at Deal, Kent as a Private on the 8/9/14 – 20/1/15, when he was transferred. Portsmouth Division, 21/1/15 – 14/4/15, when he embarked. HMS Black Prince, 15/4/15 – 31/5/16 when he was killed during the Battle of Jutland. The background relating to the circumstances in which Walter lost his life are as follows; HMS Black Prince was modified in March 1916 as a result of lessons learned at the Battle of Coronel, with the 6-inch guns removed from their casemates and replaced by six 6-inch guns mounted individually behind shields between the beam 9.2-inch turrets. The ship participated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was sunk with heavy loss of life. The circumstances under which she sank were mysterious for some years after. As the British had lost contact and did not see the ship destroyed, they were unsure as to whether a submarine or surface ship was responsible for sinking the HMS Black Prince. During the battle, the First Cruiser Squadron was deployed as part of a screening force several miles ahead of the main force of the Grand Fleet, but HMS Black Prince lost contact with the rest of the Squadron as it came into contact with German forces, at about 5.42pm. Soon after, two other members of the First Cruiser Squadron, HMS Defence and HMS Warrior were heavily engaged by German battleships and battle cruisers, with HMS Defence blowing up and HMS Warrior receiving heavy damage, which later caused her to sink. There were no positive sightings of HMS Black Prince by the British fleet after that, although a wireless signal from her was received at 8.45pm, reporting a submarine sighting. During the night of the 31st May–1st June, the British destroyer HMS Spitfire, badly damaged after colliding with the German battleship Nassau, sighted what appeared to be a German battle cruiser, with two widely spaced funnels, described as being “a mass of fire from foremast to mainmast, on deck and between decks. Flames were issuing out of her from every corner.” The mystery ship exploded at about midnight. It was later thought that the burning ship may have been HMS Black Prince, with the two midship’s funnels having collapsed or been shot away. Recent historians, however, hold to the German account of the ship's sinking. HMS Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship Rheinland at about 11.35pm GMT, scoring two hits with 6-inch shells. Separated from the rest of the British fleet, HMS Black Prince approached the German lines at approximately midnight. She turned away from the German battleships, but it was too late. The German battleship Thuringen fixed the HMS Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from HMS Black Prince being ineffective. Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1500 yards of the HMS Black Prince, effectively point blank range for contemporary naval gunnery. HMS Black Prince was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones, sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors from HMS Black Prince’s crew, all 857 being killed.