Richard Meanley Anson, wearing the uniform of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, British Columbia Regiment, in 1915 or 1916. Image from Desmond Burton’s paper.
Desmond Burton has again been in touch, still pursuing his extraordinary research on the subject of his Great uncle Richard Meanley Anson who died in a military hospital on The Somme 100 years ago, almost to the very day.
Richard was a Rushall lad who sadly gave his life in battle on the Somme in September 1916 – and many will remember Desmond Burton’s fine, exemplary and fascinating piece of research into the life and loss of this local hero.
Following contacts Desmond made with other readers and contributors including the wonderful Graeme Clarke as well as other members of the local history community the original research has been greatly expanded, and a new version is available which now stands at an astounding 28 pages. Just click on the link below, or peruse the gallery at the foot of this post.
Richard Meanley Anson Biography PDF – 3.8 megabytes
Desmond wrote:
Hello Bob
Thanks to your help last year I made some very useful contacts (particularly Graeme Clarke, who led me towards various sources like the Canadian War Diaries), and I have now been able to produce a much-expanded version of the article on my great-uncle, with details of his active service and the circumstances surrounding his death.
As it happens, today (16th September) is exactly 100 years since he was wounded at the Somme (and he died in hospital less than two days later), so I wonder if you might like to bring the new version to the attention of your many readers.
Any comments/criticisms/corrections are very welcome, of course, and you never know, it might lead to further contacts and more information surfacing. Somewhere out there are his medals, and no doubt photographs, too.
Hope all is well with you. Take care.
Regards,
Des
Thanks to Desmond for his kind words, and for another illustration of just why I curate this blog; the ability to make just this small difference is an honour and a pleasure, and I’d like to thank all readers who helped, especially Graeme.
Desmond is still interested in tracing any surviving relatives of Richard, his medals or any photos that may survive. Can you help? Please do comment here, or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.
Click on any page in the gallery to see a larger version, or download the complete PDF from the link above.
