Wellington Remembers 1914–1918

084 131751 Private Richard Charles Hotchkiss Machine Gun Corps Born on 6 March 1899 in Church Pulverbatch, Lived in Church Pulverbatch, Sallins and Betton, Shropshire Died of wounds on 7 May 1918 aged 19 in France Buried St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen; grave P.XI.C.5a

His story

Richard was baptised on 16 April 1899 in the parish church of St Edith in Church Pulverbatch, which is 9 miles southwest of . His parents, William, an agricultural labourer, and Agnes Mary Hotchkiss née James, had married in the same church on 12 March 1896. In 1901 they were living in Churton (another name for Church Pulverbatch) close by the church itself. His father did not record his place of birth. Richard had an older sister, Alice Emma. On 5 October 1908 Richard began attending the local school in Smethcote, having previously gone to school in Atcham. The school admission book records the family address as Sallins. He and two siblings attended this school until 26 March 1909, and the reason given for them leaving the school was that the family had moved. By 1911, the family had moved to 6 Alkmere Cottage, Betton in the of Berrington, 5 miles southeast of Shrewsbury. Richard was still at school and had four siblings – two brothers and two sisters. His father stated that he was born in Wolverhampton and he was still working as a farm labourer. Richard later worked for Mr Pryce Owen at Betton. According to the Wellington Journal Richard was called up to join the colours in April 1917 after he attained the age of 18. By then all single men between the ages of 18 and 41 were liable for service. This was enacted in early 1916 with further acts making wider sections of the male population liable as the war dragged on. Medical standards for admittance were lowered and reasons for granting exemptions made more stringent. However, he joined a young organisation which was able to claim the more capable recruits for its increasingly important role on the battlefield. He enlisted in Shrewsbury and joined the Machine Gun Corps. By this time, machine guns on the battlefield were recognised as a vitally important asset and machine gun companies had been formed in each brigade.

222 Wellington Remembers 1914–1918

The Vickers machine gun became the standard weapon. Each gun was manned by six soldiers: two on the gun, two to carry ammunition and a further two to act as relief carriers. The complete gun weighed some 60 lbs comprising gun, water for cooling the barrel (10 lbs) and mounting tripod (20 lbs). It had a range of 2,190 yards and a beaten zone out to 4,500 yards. By July 1917 there had been a further strengthening and consolidation of the machine gun assets – each division now had four machine gun companies. These were integrated into a machine gun battalion in February 1918. In Richard’s case, he was sent to the 17th Battalion MGC which was part of 17th (Northern) Division. According to the battalion war diary, a party of 181 reinforcements arrived from base (depot) on 1 April. It appears he was one of those men. The battalion was then at Contay, 7 miles west of Albert. In late April 1918, the battalion was operating in the Vickers machine gun Varennes area, 6 miles northwest of Albert. There were daily casualties. Apart from those killed in action, the tally was: 26 April – four wounded; 27 April – one wounded; 29 April – one wounded; 1 May – two wounded; 3 May – five wounded; 4 May – two wounded. The Wellington Journal reported that on May 5 Richard received severe wounds in the thigh. He was admitted to 3rd Stationary Hospital, based at the racecourse in Rouen on 4 May suffering from gunshot wounds to his right thigh. He was given morphine to dull the pain but succumbed to his wounds, dying three days later. He was buried in the local military cemetery. Richard earned the British War Medal and Victory Medal which would have been sent to his father, who also received his son’s war gratuity of £4. His parents were living at 70 Haygate Road, Wellington in 1939. His father, William, died in Wellington in 1966 and his mother, Agnes Mary, three years later.

Notes: Richard is not recorded in the list of WW1 participants kept in St Edith church, Church Pulverbatch.

Acknowledgements: Image of the Vickers Machine Gun from Imperial War Museum under their non commercial use licence © IWM (Q 3995).

223