Pte 29715 Richard John Quayle

• Age: 30
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Sunday 30th July 1916
• Commemorated at: Guillemont Rd Cem
  Panel Ref: II.N.8

Richard John Quayle was born in Liverpool on the 21st September 1885 to Richard Thomas Quayle and his wife Martha (nee Craine) who married on the 06th June 1880 at St Silas' Church, Pembroke Place. Richard was a leather cutter of 21 Gill Street, father John a smith, whilst Martha was of 8 Gill Street, father William a joiner. 

Richard was baptised in St. Nathaniel's Church, Liverpool, on 07th October 1885, their address at the time was 4 Linden Street.

His parents were both born in Liverpool; they had three daughters before Richard:  Ethel in 1881, Martha in 1882, and Sarah in 1884.  Sadly, when Richard was five years old his mother died, in December 1890 at the age of 43, leaving her husband with four children under the age of nine. 

In 1891 his widowed father is living with daughters Ethel 10, Martha 9, and Sarah 7, at 10 Oliver Street, Toxteth.  Richard, 5, is living with his uncle and aunt, John and Esther Quayle, at 12 Vandyke Street, Toxteth.  Richard is listed as their ‘adopted son’; they have no other children. 

It is not known how long Richard lived with his uncle and aunt, but his father remarried on the 17th October 1893 at St Mary's Church, Edge Hill, to 38 year old Catherine Doughty (who was a neighbour in Oliver Street, and had a son Frederick), and by the next Census Richard was living with his father.

In 1901 his father and his second wife, Katie, are living at 38 Holden Street. His father is a foundry labourer. Sister Ethel, 20, is a laundry packer and sorter, Richard, 15, is a green grocer’s shop boy, Frederick is 12.  His father died in 1908, aged 54. 

In 1911 Richard, is still with his step-mother Catherine and step-brother Frederick in Holden Street.  Richard (age given as 22 but actually 25) is a labourer in an oil mill.

Later that year, on 03rd October 1911, Richard married Elizabeth Alice Goudie, in St. Nicholas’ Church, Liverpool.  He gives his age as 25, his occupation as labourer and his address as Pitt Street. Their daughter Irene was born in 1912, and a second daughter Elizabeth in 1913. Sadly, Elizabeth only lived three and a half months, and died in February 1914. Her parents were living at 19 Linden Street. 

In 1915 his step-mother Catherine died, in April, and his third daughter Martha Jane was born, on 8th August. 

As Richard’s service record has not survived, the details are unknown, but he enlisted in Liverpool, as Private 29715, 19^th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment. 

Formed on 07^th September 1914 the 19^th Battalion trained locally at Sefton Park and remained living at home or in rented accommodation until November 1914. They then moved to the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 19th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. They arrived in France on 07^th November 1915.

In the summer of 1916 the 19^th battalion was in front line trenches at Maricourt on the Somme.  On 30^th July three Pals battalions took part in the failed attack on the village of Guillemont, with 500 casualties either killed, missing, and later dying of their wounds.  Richard was killed in action but must have been declared Missing, as his death was later presumed for official purposes as occurring on 30^th July 1916. 

19^th Battalion Diary 30^th July 1916

MALTZ HORN FARM

BATTLE begun. ZERO hour 4:45 am. The Battalion reached its objective, but suffered heavy losses, and had to evacuate its position owing to no reinforcements.

Everard Wyrall gives details of the attack in his book The History of The King’s Regiment; 

"The 2nd Attack on Guillemont- 29th July 1916 the 89th Brigade the 20th King's were to attack on the right and the 19th on the left. During the evening of the 29th the night was dark and foggy when the Battalions moved off and the 19th with Lt Col G Rollo commanding, when passing the South east of the Briqueterie they were heavily shelled first with H E and then with a new kind of asphyxiating Gas shell which had curious results, at first it had no nasty effect but about 8 hrs later men began to fall sick with violent headaches and pains in the stomach. All ranks had to wear gas masks which in the darkness and mist made the going terribly difficult. It was indeed wonderful that they were able to reach their Assembly point at all. But they did and by 2.45 a.m. on the 30th July 1916 the Btn was assembled having suffered about 30 Casualties on the way up ready for the Zero hour at 4.45 a.m.

It is known that the two left Companies of the 19th under Capt. Dodd and Capt. Nicholson advanced in touch with the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on their left although they suffered many casualties from Machine gun Fire did not encounter many Germans and reached their final objective about the time allocated, beginning at once to dig in south of the orchard on the South east corner of Guillemont.  

On the left of the 19th the Scots Fusiliers most gallantly forced their way through Guillemont to the eastern side of the village but were soon overwhelmed by the enemy and few returned. 

At 8 a.m. finding that the village was not held the two left Companies of the 19th received no word from the rear or either flank believed themselves to be totally isolated so were forced to fall back and dig in, their position being untenable.

At midday the effective fighting strength of the 19th Btn was just 7 Officers and 43 other ranks" 

When darkness fell on the battlefield the 30^th Division held a line from the railway on the eastern side of Trones Wood , southwards and including Arrow Head Copse, to east of Maltz Horn Farm. On this line the division was relieved by the 55^th Division during the early hours of the 31^st July.

Casualties in the 19^th Battalion were 11 Officers and 435 Other Ranks 

The events of 30^th July 1916 were regarded at the time as Liverpool’s blackest day. There follows an extract from The History of the 89^th Brigade written by Brigadier General Ferdinand Stanley which gives an indication of the events of the day.

Guillemont

Well the hour to advance came, and of all bad luck in the world it was a thick fog; so thick that you couldn’t see more than about ten yards. It was next to impossible to delay the attack – it was much too big an operation- so forward they had to go. It will give some idea when I say that on one flank we had to go 1,750 yards over big rolling country. Everyone knows what it is like to cross enclosed country which you know really well in a fog and how easy it is to lose your way. Therefore, imagine these rolling hills, with no landmarks and absolutely unknown to anyone. Is it surprising that people lost their way and lost touch with those next to them? As a matter of fact, it was wonderful the way in which many men found their way right to the place we wanted to get to. But as a connected attack it was impossible.

The fog was intense it was practically impossible to keep direction and parties got split up. Owing to the heavy shelling all the Bosches had left their main trenches and were lying out in the open with snipers and machine guns in shell holes, so of course our fellows were the most easy prey.

It is so awfully sad now going about and finding so many splendid fellows gone.

Richard John Quayle was buried close to where he fell and after the war, when graves were concentrated, his body was removed and reinterred in Guillemont Road Cemetery where he now rests. 

Guillemont was an important point in the German defences at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. It was taken by the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on 30 July but the battalion was obliged to fall back, and it was again entered for a short time by the 55th (West Lancashire) Division on 8 August. On 18 August, the village was reached by the 2nd Division, and on 3 September (in the Battle of Guillemont) it was captured and cleared by the 20th (Light) and part of the 16th (Irish) Divisions. It was lost in March 1918 during the German advance, but retaken on 29 August by the 18th and 38th (Welsh) Divisions.

The cemetery was begun by fighting units (mainly of the Guards Division) and field ambulances after the Battle of Guillemont, and was closed in March 1917, when it contained 121 burials. It was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves (almost all of July-September 1916) were brought in from the battlefields immediately surrounding the village and certain smaller cemeteries, including:-

HARDECOURT FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY. The village of Hardecourt-au-Bois was captured by French troops on the 8th July 1916, and again by the 58th (London) and 12th (Eastern) Divisions on 28 August 1918. Five British Artillerymen were buried by their unit in the French Military Cemetery, in the middle of the village, in September 1916; and in 1918 the 12th Division buried in the same cemetery 14 men of the 9th Royal Fusiliers and two of the 7th Royal Sussex.

Guillemont Road Cemetery now contains 2,263 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 1,523 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to eight casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

A newspaper report in the Liverpool Daily Post on Friday 25 August 1916 that Richard was declared missing displayed the anxiety of his wife:

MISSING

"Private R J Quayle, "Pals", information sought by his wife at 19 Linden Street, off Oliver street, Liverpool" 

His daughter Irene was four years old when Richard was killed.  

His widow Elizabeth, living at 19 Linden Street, Liverpool, received his effects, war gratuity and pension.  The pension card shows, ‘late husband’s P.W.E. insufficient to qualify widow for A.P. under Art 13 of 1919 R.W., date of decision 13/2/21”.  Their daughter Martha Jane died at two years old on 24^th May 1918.

His widow Elizabeth remarried to Richard Hughes at St. Nathaniel's Church, Edge Hill in 1925 and had three sons, one of whom died in infancy.

Elizabeth died in 1937, aged 47, and his daughter Irene in 1938, at the age of 25.  They are buried together in Allerton Cemetery.

Richard is commemorated on the following Memorials;

St. Nathaniel’s C of E Church which is now housed at St Bride's Church, Liverpool.

Hall of Remembrance in Liverpool Town Hall at Panel 52.

We currently have no further information on Richard John Quayle, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.