2005 Private, ‘A’ Company, 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians), 82nd Infantry Brigade, 27th Division.
Age: 21
Date of death: 25/4/15
Buried: Poperinge Old Military Cemetery Special Memorial
Family history: Richard was born in Dublin and was the son of Mrs. Mary Cosgrove, 66 Meath Street, Dublin. He is listed on the Bonnybridge memorial however, there is no record of him. He enlisted in Stirling. After his death the Register of Soldiers Effects details that he left his money to Mary Bridget Spooner (his mothers maiden name)
The Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was established as a result of the British Army reforms of 1881. The 100th Prince of Wales’s Royal Canadians Regiment and the 109th Regiment of Foot merged and passed on their associations with Canada and India to the new Regiment. The new regiment became the local regiment for Meath, Westmeath, Longford, King’s County (now Offaly) and Queens County (now Laois) in the province of Leinster. The 100th Foot became the 1st Battalion and the 109th the 2nd Battalion. Both he Battalions undertook deployments to India, Nova Scotia, Ireland and England. In the First World War the 1st Battalion arrived on the Western Front in December 1914 and stayed in this theatre until November 1915 when it was sent to Macedonia and then in September 1917 moved to Egypt and Palestine and at the end of the war to India. The 2nd Battalion stayed on the Western Front throughout the war.
Action leading to his death
The Battalion was in the line from 19 April to 6 May in the area around Armagh Wood, Clonmel Copse and Sanctuary Wood. During this period the Germans launched their gas attack at Langemark and breaking through the lines in the north of the Salient. This pressure resulted in the British eventually shortening their lines a creating the last line the GHQ line. During their time in the trenches the War Diary reports the Battalion casualties as 27 Other Ranks killed or died of wounds and 107 Other Ranks wounded. Richard died of his wounds received. His epitaph reads IN FOND AND LOVING MEMORY OF MY SON. FROM MOTHER R.I.P.
Medals Awarded
1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
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