226831 Sgt. Richard Preece British Army 9th Btn. Loyal North Lancs Regiment from:Bolton, Lancs (d.5th Nov 1918) Richard Preece is my paternal great grandfather. He was born in Dudley on 23rd July 1887 to Richard and Harriet.
On the 1901 census he is living with his parents in Dudley and is a labourer in an ironworks.
By 1910 he has moved to Bolton, Lancs and is married to Maud Miller (from Bolton) aged 22. In the 1911 census he is living in Tong Street, Bolton with his wife Maud - he is a gravedigger and Maud is a drawing frame tenter. In 1913 they have their first child, a daughter Harriet Maud Preece (1913-1990).
Sometime in 1914 he joins the war effort and arrives in France on 25th September 1915 with the 9th Loyal North Lancs just three months before his twin daughters are born (Emma and Sarah - 28/6/1915). Sadly Emma dies in July 1915.
His battalion fought on the Somme in 1916 at Bazentin, Pozieres and the Ancre Heights, then in the Battles of Messines Ridge and Pilkem Ridge in 1917.
As Richard's soldier's papers did not survive, we cannot be sure which of these battles he fought in. It is likely he was wounded at some stage, and was not sufficiently fit for front line duty on his recovery. He was transferred to the 14th Company, Labour Corps, which was a prisoner of war company, guarding prisoners of war. In late 1918 they were in the Conches-en-Ouche area, about 35 miles south of Rouen. The German prisoners here were engaged in forestry work.
As Richard is recorded as having died it is possible that he was a victim of the 1918 influenza pandemic. He is buried at Conches-en-Ouche Communal Cemetery. He was 31 years old and left his wife Maud (32) and daughters Harriet Maud (5) and Sarah (3) - he never met either of his daughters.
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