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Australia

Richard was the son of Sydney COPE & Ellen Maria SMITH and was born on the 5th of April 1895 in Mt Barker, SA.

His parents were married on the 1st of November 1875 in Mt Barker, SA.

His father was the son of Samuel COPE & Caroline Elizabeth Amelia HASKELL and was born in 1853 in St Giles, London, England.
His mother was the daughter of George SMITH & Hannah REAKLE and was born on the 5th of January 1856 in Walkleywoods, Gloucestershire, England.

Richard was the tenth child born into the family of 11 children.

His father was a tailor and the family lived in Gawler Street, Mt Barker. (Jones Store – 2 storey)

Richard’s father was keenly associated with cricket in Mount Barker and the earlier files of "The Courier" give evidence of his prowess with bat and ball. He had been a member of the South Australian cricket team which played against the English side captained by W. G. Grace, and played in 1874.

Richard attended school in Mt Barker and then served 1 year with the Senior Cadets. He gained employment as a blacksmith and then transferred to the 74th Battalion.

At the age of 20, Richard enlisted in the 1st AIF on the 18th of May 1915 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number 1908 and posted to F Company, Base Infantry, in Mitcham Camp.

He was then posted to the 27th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements on the 16th of June and then his brother Sydney then enlisted on the 10th Battalion on the 9th of July (3270).

On Monday evening, the 12th of July the smaller lodge-room of the Mt. Barker Institute was well filled when nearly 40 friends of Richard met to wish him good-bye and God-speed before he left with his contingent of the Expeditionary Forces for the front.

Richard embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Morea on the 26th of August 1915, disembarked in Egypt and marched into Heliopolis Camp.
He became dangerously ill with Pneumonia in Egypt before proceeding to France. He then suffered a Gun Shot Wound to his left calf and was invalided back to England.

During his time overseas his brother Francis enlisted into the 10th Battalion on the 25th of October 1915 (4751) and later transferred to the 50th Battalion.

Then Henry enlisted into the 43rd Battalion on the 25th of March 1916 (Captain) and was later warded the Military Cross and mentioned in Despatches.

Richard embarked for Australia on the 12th of November, on board HT Wiltshire.
After spending Christmas 1916 on board the troopship; he disembarked in Melbourne on the 31st of December and entrained to Adelaide the following day.

Richard was discharged from the AIF on the 3rd of May 1917 and granted a War Pension of £3 per fortnight and by November 1917 had moved to the Training Farm in Melrose.

Richard successfully obtain a Soldiers Settlement Block, Section 377, Hundred of Wongyarra (Sanders Road, Melrose), on the 4th of July 1918.

On the 6th of January his sister Adelaide enlisted into the AANS as a Staff Nurse and reported for duty at the 7th Australian General Hospital (Keswick). She was sent to the local Board of Health in connection with the Influenza outbreak in April and after 3 months she was demobilized.

Richard married Daisy Ellen WEBB in 1921 in Melrose.
Daisy was the daughter of George WEBB & Mary COLLETT and was born on the 1902.

They welcome their first child; Ellen Una, on the 4th of March 1922, followed by Barbara Joan on the 5th of July 1923.

Cyril Maxwell was then born on the 3rd of December 1924, followed by Kenneth Ross on the 30th of October 1926.
Then in the same year Richard purchased allotment 6 on the corner of Spratt & Jacka Streets, Melrose. They relinquished the land on Sanders Road and made their family home on this allotment.

Sadly, their eldest daughter Ellen died on the 5th of March 1934 in the Booleroo Hospital and they buried her in the Melrose Cemetery.

With the outbreak of WW2, aged 45, Richard enlisted in the 4th Garrison Battalion on the 15th of November 1940 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number S660.
He was admitted into camp hospital for 10 days on the 10th of December and then on the 22nd of January 1941 he was transferred to the 18th Garrison Battalion.
Richard was granted 1 weeks leave on the 22nd of April and then on the 2nd of June he was transferred to No.9 POW Camp, Loveday.

He suffered from Neuritis on the 19th of July and spent 3 weeks in the camp hospital before being transferred to the Convalescent Hospital at Wayville.
A week later he was transferred to the Convalescent Hospital at Largs.
Richard was then posted to the 4th Garrison Battalion on the 2nd of November and discharged from the AIF on the 14th of November, medically unfit.

Their son Cyril then enlisted into the RAN on the 8th of July 1942 (PA2992), followed by Kenneth, who also enlisted into the RAN on the 29th of July 1944 (PA4791).

Richard died on the 30th of August 1969 and was buried 2 days later in the Melrose Cemetery; Plot 24.

Military

WW1

At the age of 20, Richard enlisted in the 1st AIF on the 18th of May 1915 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number 1908 and posted to F Company, Base Infantry, in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his father, of Mt Barker as his next of kin and his father gave consent for Richard to enlist.

On the 16th of June he was posted to the 27th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements.

Richard embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Morea on the 26th of August 1915, disembarked in Egypt and marched into Heliopolis Camp.

In camp on the 10th of October Richard became dangerously ill and was admitted into hospital suffering from debility & pneumonia.
He remained in hospital until for a few months before being transferred to Zeitoun Camp, the home of the 10th Battalion Detail.

On the 5th of March Richard finally rejoined his Battalion who were in Ismailia.

Nine days Richard and the 27th Battalion entrained for Alexandria, being part of the first Australian force to leave for Europe. Their brigade was given pride of place and they embarked on the troopship Northland on March 15th for Marseilles. The voyage was a smooth one, although the presence of enemy submarines made it necessary that very great precaution should be taken, but despite many alarms they safely reached port.
It was with mingled feelings on the morning of March 21st that they watched the shores of France drawing close, and as the vessel slowly made its way to the wharf side their band mustered on deck and lustily played the Marseillaise, to the evident delight of the waiting population.

As the first Australian troops to arrive en route to the battle line a wonderful reception was accorded to their Battalion and the utmost enthusiasm demonstrated the deep-seated sense of appreciation which the French nation held for the men from Greater Britain.
Everything was at once got ready for disembarkation, but no one was allowed ashore. During the afternoon instructions arrived that they would leave Marseilles by train at 1am the next morning. So just before midnight they left the ship and marched through the streets to the railway station.
The whole of the 26th Battalion and half of the 27th Battalion, with the 7th Field Ambulance, numbering in all about 1,500 men, were accommodated in one train, which consisted of fifty coaches drawn by very powerful engines.

The work of entrainment was slow, but eventually they pulled out of the station bound for the north. The south of France was just wakening from its winter sleep and the crisp air of an early spring was very invigorating after their recent sojourn in the sweltering heat of Egypt.
The trees were just clothing themselves in their new season’s raiment and hedges and fields were sparkling with brilliant points of dew.
The villages and towns, clean, tidy, and picturesque, were visions of delight to their eyes after the squalid native villages of Lemnos and Egypt. The wide smooth roads, stretching like ribbons across the green landscape, were pictures of municipal perfection.

The railway ran along the Rhone Valley and the endless change of panoramic beauty called forth expressions of appreciation from even the most unimpressionable Diggers. The inhabitants of the various towns through which they passed were wildly enthusiastic and at almost every stop hospitality was offered and accepted.
Rations, principally tinned meat and biscuits, were carried in bulk on the train and a daily issue was made by the quarter-master.

The flag of the 27th Battalion, which had a map of Australia as its central design, was displayed as they passed through the towns, evoking great interest among the French people.
At one of the wayside stations where their train was halted a number of the Battalion’s men were walking up and down the platform by way of exercise, when an aged peasant threw his arms round the neck of one of them and kissed him heartily on both cheeks. The young Australian flushed in dismay, not being familiar with this French method of greeting, but his dismay was not such as to prevent his glancing at some bonnie French girls nearby, as though inviting them to follow the lead so nobly given by their aged compatriot.

During the rail journey a few of the men, including Richard, found it hard to restrain their enthusiasm and they rode on the tops of the railway coaches. Despite several warnings this was persisted in, until one unfortunate lad of the 7th Field
Ambulance met his death through the train suddenly plunging into a tunnel.
This sad occurrence had the effect of restraining the boys from riding in such an unorthodox manner, but not being used to such cramped conditions of travel as were necessitated by the coaches provided, they relieved the congestion by riding upon the steps and even the couplings of the train.

One soldier, who lingered rather too long at a wayside station, missed the troop train. When his predicament was understood by the railway officials they took steps to entertain him and later placed him on the Paris express, on which he traveled in luxury and comfort, passing Richard’s slow moving train. He was later left at a large city station, where he waited in delightful unconcern until Richard’s train steamed in, when he rejoined his envious comrades and regaled them with the story of his journey.

Richard noted the changes in the landscape as they got further north and on the third night of their journey they ran into a severe snowstorm.
They had left behind the genial south, with its opening spring, and found instead a whitened north where bitter cold and winter still held sway.
Snow had covered everything and they felt the change of temperature very keenly.

Just before midday on March 24th they detrained at a small village called Thiennes and after unloading their baggage, marched 5 miles through snow to Morbecque and were accommodated in huts.
The weather was bitterly cold and they were glad when next day they moved out of the huts and were billeted among the surrounding population.

Billeting in France was for lodging only, for which the inhabitant or owner of the premises received an allowance per head for the troops accommodated. For the most part barns and sheds were secured, while each company established its kitchen in some central position. A feature of the French farms was a pond or midden into which all house and other refuse was thrown and these were periodically emptied to manure the surrounding fields.

To the Australians this appeared a most unhealthy and unsanitary procedure, but the French folk appear to take no harm.
Two members of the 27th Battalion were returning to their billets after an evening spent in the village, when one of them, walking too close to the edge of a midden, managed to fall in. His companion viewed the incident with composure for a few minutes and then gravely plunged in to the rescue.
Both men waded to safety, and, somewhat chastened by the incident, proceeded to their quarters, where their appearance and the unsavory odor resulting from their immersion, called forth much uncomplimentary comment from their mates. Eventually they were compelled to disrobe outside, leaving their clothing in the fresh air to sweeten. They applied for a fresh issue next day.

Richard and his Battalion daily saw British regiments passing through on their way to the front and the sound of gunfire was practically continuous, while at night time the horizon was lighted with the glare of rockets and flares.

On April 4th 1916 the whole of the 7th Brigade marched forward, the 27th Battalion leading the column. Their first night’s halt was at Outerstein and the next at Erquinghem, where our Battalion headquarters were, in an old chateau, with oak beams bearing the date 1616 supporting the roof, while the moat and drawbridge were still in good order.

Brigade headquarters were established in the Rue Marie, Armentieres and the morning after their arrival the Battalion Commanding Officer and company commanders went into the front line. The position was then held by a Battalion of Northumberland Fusiliers and the 27th Battalion instructions were to relieve them on the night of April 7th.
The trenches, which were really breastworks of sand bags, were in a bad state of repair. The country being low-lying, it was impossible to dig trenches except for drainage purposes, while the traffic was over duck boards, of which were broken. The troops in occupation stated that for the most part there was little enemy activity except for artillery fire.

The brigade front consisted of about a mile and was divided into two sectors, each to be held by 2 Battalions.
The railway line from Armentieres to Lille ran through the position and several ruined farms and other buildings were in the area.
On the night of April 7th they quietly marched into the line and by midnight the takeover had been completed and for the first time in the history of the war Australian troops were in the front line of the European theatre.

The arrival of the Australian troops and the attitude adopted by them soon altered the demeanor of the opposing Germans and a notice was received by means of a rifle grenade fired into the lines of the 28th Battalion at a point where the trenches were only about thirty yards apart.
The notice read, in effect: Welcome, you brave Australian heroes; soon your blood will stain the fields of France. You will find the German dog can bite. Witness Verdun.”

Richard and the Battalion’s time was fully occupied, as all troops not actually on observation during the daytime were busily engaged in strengthening support lines, repairing trenches and making wire entanglements, which were placed in position at night.
The tour of duty for each Battalion was from 5 to 12 days in the front line trenches and similar periods in support or reserve.
Relief’s were made at night-time and the taking over period usually lasted from about 10pm till midnight. The troops marching out took over the billets vacated by those marching in and were able for a few days at least to have a comparative rest.

Richard’s Battalion found Armentieres a very interesting town and were able to purchase many comforts to make the army rations more palatable. There were nice tearooms and many army canteens and institutes, which all helped to deaden for a time memories of the discomforts and disabilities of the front line.

All the townspeople carried gas masks in readiness for any hostile gas action and even the school children carried them in an extra satchel.
On June 7th they handed the trenches over to the 5th Brigade and the 27th Battalion ttok up quarters in huts at La Rolanderie, near Erquinghem, where the troops were used in the construction and strengthening of the Bois Grenier line of defence.

La Rolanderie was a big farm house with a wide moat surrounding it. On one afternoon teams selected from two of the companies were playing a football match in truly Australian fashion, when suddenly a shell fell and burst in the middle of the field.
A glance upwards showed that a British aeroplane had been fired at by a German anti-aircraft gun and the shell failing to burst in the air, had fallen on their football grounds to burst on impact. About half a minute later the game was resumed and soon the ball was gaily floating on the slimy surface of the moat. A few moments hesitation and a cheer betokened the fact that one of the bystanders was stripping for an icy plunge. The ball was recovered and the game lost and won.
Whilst here, Richard suffered from a badly blistered foot on the 15th of June and was admitted into the 6th Australian Field Ambulance at Erquinghem, then transferred to 2nd Division Rest Station for 4 days.

On rejoining his Battalion they had moved Kortypip Camp, near Neuve Eglise and they could distinctly hear and faintly see Zeppelins passing over for a raid on the coast of England.
On June 26th the 27th Battalion was detailed to take over the line from the 25th Battalion. The trenches were in a very bad condition and were quite unmade on a portion of the front occupied. The main communication trench was known as Medicine Hat Trail and as the enemy occupied much higher ground in the vicinity of Messines, hostile gunfire was frequently directed along this trench, for a portion of which persons passing were in full view of the enemy.

Late in June they received instructions to install gas cylinders in their front trenches in readiness to launch a gas attack with the first favorable wind. The cylinders had to be carried up and carrying parties had an anxious time, as the enemy kept up a continuous gunfire over the whole of our area.

On July 8th they moved out on the first stage of their journey towards the big push on the Somme and marched as far as Steenwerck, where they billeted over a wide area.
Two days later they passed through LeVerrier, Outerstein and Merris and found quarters between the villages of Strazelle and Fletre.
They then moved to Mizernes through Hazebrouck and Renescure and entrained for Saleux and marched to Bertangles.
Then on the 20th they marched to Toutencourt via Villers, Bocage and Rubempre and upon arrival were ordered to march through to Warloy-Baillon.

After a few days or rest and training they marched out and bivouacked at the brickfields on the outskirts of Albert.
They then moved to Tara Hill and bivouacked in and about trenches and on the evening of the 28th of July they were told an attack was to be made on the heights above Pozieres within hours, with the tramline trench which ran through the town as a jumping-off place.

The attack commenced as soon as it was dark, a short preliminary artillery bombardment opening the engagement. Unfortunately, the artillery preparation was insufficient and the advancing troops found the wire entanglements practically intact, while the front was swept by machine gun fire of so intense a nature that, while heroic attempts were made to force a way through, the troops were withdrawn after suffering severe casualties.

It was during this attack in the early morning of July 29th that Richard suffered a Gun Shot Wound to his left calf.
The following day he was admitted into the 1st Australian Field Ambulance at Warloy and then to 44th Casualty Clearing Station at Puchevillers.
Then the following day he was transferred by ambulance train to the 3rd Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne.
On the 2nd of August he was invalided to England on board HS St David and admitted into the 5th Northern General Hospital in Leicester
Richard spent 5 weeks here before being transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Harefield on the 11th of September.
Eight weeks later he was discharged from hospital on the 12th of November, for return to Australia.

Richard embarked the same day, on the 12th of November, on board HT Wiltshire and after spending Christmas 1916 on board the troopship; he disembarked in Melbourne on the 31st of December and entrained to Adelaide the following day.

Richard was discharged from the AIF on the 3rd of May 1917 and awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War & Victory Medals.

WW2

At the age of 45, Richard enlisted in the 4th Garrison Battalion on the 15th of November 1940 in Keswick, SA and was allotted the service number S660.
He was admitted into camp hospital for 10 days on the 10th of December and then on the 22nd of January 1941 he was transferred to the 18th Garrison Battalion.
Richard was granted 1 weeks leave on the 22nd of April and then on the 2nd of June he was transferred to No.9 POW Camp, Loveday.

He suffered from Neuritis on the 19th of July and spent 3 weeks in the camp hospital before being transferred to the Convalescent Hospital at Wayville.
A week later he was transferred to the Convalescent Hospital at Largs.
Richard was then posted to the 4th Garrison Battalion on the 2nd of November and discharged from the AIF on the 14th of November, medically unfit.