Date of birth: | 1891 |
Place of birth: | Salford, Lincolnshire |
Service No.: | Not known |
Rank: | Able Seaman |
Vessel: | SS Arcadian |
Battalion: | Mercantile Marine |
Died: | 1917 aged 25 or 26 years |
Death location: | At sea, 26 miles north east of the Greek island of Milos |
Life Before the War
Richard was born to parents Thomas and Jane.
Richard married Louisa, nee Burnett, in Southampton in 1914. They had 2 children:
Louisa A J born in 1915
Gwennie E born 1917
In the census of 1911 Louisa was 19 and living with her mother, Mary Ann Burnett, born in 1862, and brother Archibald W Burnett, born in 1890. Archibald died in 1978 in Southampton.
War Service
SS Arcadian was a passenger liner. She was converted early in the first world war to an armed merchant cruiser.
On 15th April 1917 she was torpedoed, by German sub UC-74, 26 miles north east of the Greek Island of Milos and sank in six minutes with the loss of 279 lives.
Richard’s body was not recovered. He was awarded the Mercantile Marine Medal and is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.
Researcher: | Shaun Connolly |
Published: | 19th May 2015 |
Updated: | Insert dates here |
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