255789 Rfmn. Richard Harris British Army 1st Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps from:39 Wood End, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton (d.4th Oct 1914) Richard Harris was 39 when he was badly wounded in the lungs during the Battle of Aisnes in September 1914.
He was brought home and died of these wounds in Whitworth Street Military Hospital in Manchester. He was buried in Southern Cemetery, Manchester and is remembered on the Screen Wall.
Richard was the first British Soldier to die in Manchester as a result of WW1 and there was great local outcry because, unlike German soldiers who had received full military honours when buried there, he was not given the same courtesy.
A Manchester newspaper reported that "the lack of the usual military features attending a soldier's funeral was freely commented on".
Born in 1875, Richard was a veteran of the Boer War having been awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal for his action in Cape Colony, Orange Free State, the Relief of Ladysmith and Transvaal, he also received the King's South Africa Medal for his service in 1901 and 1902. His WW1 medals (the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal) were presented to his wife and children, along with his Memorial Plaque, these are still with Richard's family to this day.
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