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Pte. Richard Henry Matthews
British Army 8th Btn., D Coy. Middlesex Regiment
from:Southall
(d.1st July 1916)
Dick Matthews, a former labourer and motor driver, was my Grandmother's brother. He was born in Kensington, but for most of his short life lived at 2, White Street, Southall, Middlesex, next to the gasworks. His parents were James and Annie Matthews.
He enlisted in the Territorial Force on the first of January 1912 and served in the 1/8th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, D Company, first in Gibraltar and then in France. A letter home to his brother Jack said that he had joined the trench mortar course.
He was reported 'missing believed killed' on the first day of the Somme Offensive 1st of July 1916. He was 21. His name is on the Thiepval Memorial. The only thing that my Grandmother told my uncle about him was that he wept before being sent back to the front.
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