Rifleman Richard Telford

Rifleman Richard Telford, 1st Battalion, 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade, ( known as ” The Dinks ” ). He was killed in action in France on 15th September 1916, aged 41, during the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in Castleton and was the son of Mary and the late Mark Telford of Newcastleton and the husband of Alexina Robertson Telford of Sandhead House, Sandhead, Wigtownshire. He is commemorated on the Caterpillar Valley ( New Zealand ) Memorial, Longueval, Somme, France. He fell in what was known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette where the New Zealanders captured a strong German position known as the ” Switch Line “. He had emigrated to New Zealand in June 1914 where he joined the Rifle Brigade in December 1915.  Prior to emigrating he had been in business in Manchester. The autumn rains turned the ground into a glutinous quagmire which made all movement very difficult as can be seen from the photographs. The  colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today.