Forename: John Leslie Hill
Surname: Richards
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Regiment: Devonshire Regiment
Institution: Cheltenham Training College
1913 – 1915 Year Group (D340)
Cheltenham Training College students enlist, ‘Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic’ 19 December 1914
John Leslie Hill Richards was the son of Henry and Bessie, and attended Widcombe Boys’ School in Bath. He was a member of the 1913 – 1915 year group and Nineveh house group at Cheltenham Training College. John gained a first class pass in his matriculation exam but went on to fail first year.
This might have led to his decision to become a Second Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment. He died fighting in the Pas de Calais region of France. He is buried at Aire Communal Cemmetery where his headstone reads “Till the Day Dawns and the Shadows Flee Away”. He was 23 years old.