[1] He was educated at The John Fisher School in Purley, followed by Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth during its wartime relocation to Eaton Hall, Cheshire.

[2] Walters graduated from Dartmouth in 1944 and served as a junior officer on HMS King George V during the Second World War, being present at the Surrender of Japan.

Walters presided as Judge Advocate over the most recent mutiny trial in the Royal Navy, involving a group of sailors aboard HMS Iveston refusing duty and striking a petty officer in 1970.

Five of the crew were tried by court martial at Rosyth and convicted [3] Between 1980 and 1981, John Walters was part of the British delegation to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This was followed by his appointment the same year as Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (personnel and logistics), where he played a key role in the Falklands War by orchestrating the requisition of the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2.