14739 PTE. R. BRIGGS. L.N.LAN.R

Thank you to Margaret Kline for submitting this article about her Gt Uncle.

My Great Uncle Richard Briggs was born in Preston Lancashire in about 1889. He was the 3rd child of Stephen and Sarah Briggs. He married Ellen Nolan in 1913 and worked in the cotton trade.

Richard aged 25 and only 5ft 5inchs tall enlisted at Fulwood Barracks Preston Lancashire on 8th September 1914 just a little over one month after War was declared, into the 6th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

His Regimental was No.14739. On the same day he was transferred to the Army Reserve.

Richard’s service record shows that while station in England he was shunted back and forth between Battalions. On the 22nd September 1914 he was posted to 9th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. He was again posted on the 25th March 1915 to the 3rd Battalion Loyal Lancashire Regiment and then posted back to the 6th Battalion on the 10th September 1915.

He was ordered to join his Battalion properly as a replacement for one of the many killed and wounded. The 6th had arrived at Anzac Cove Gallipoli in August 1915 as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

Richard was admitted while on active service to a casualty clearing station on the 5th December 1915 with Frostbite of the feet and invalided back to England via the R.M.S. Aquitania from Mudros, which is a small Greek port on the island Lemnos used as a base during the Gallipoli Campaign.

Richard arrived at the ‘Hospital for Sick and Wounded’ at Christchurch, Hants in January 1916. Richard was discharged being no longer fit for war service on the 19th June 1916 and given a small pension.

Richard was awarded 3 medals for his service The 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

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Paul McCormick

Paul McCormick is the creator and administrator for the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment website. Since 2010 he has been researching the soldiers that served during the First World War and sharing their stories on his website. You can contact Paul through the website 'Contact Me' page or on Twitter and Facebook.

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