Private 10914 Richard Prescott

The St Helens Newspaper & Advertiser
Courtesy Ste M

Regiment/Unit: South Lancashire Regiment - 6th Bn.
Theatre of War: Gallipoli
Theatre of War First Served: (2b) Balkans
Date Entered Therein: 01/07/1915

Age at death: 35
Date of death: 26th of July 1915 (Monday)
Born: St Helens, Lancs
Resided: St Helens, Lancs
Burial / Memorial: Redoubt Cemetery Helles - Sp. Mem. B. 129.

BMD details:
Marriage: 27/10/1901 Richard PRESCOTT to Elizabeth READY at St Helens Parish Church.

Census details:
1881 - 1 year old Richard is living at 3 Court, College Street, St Helens with parents William (35), Ann (30) and four siblings: John (10), Elizabeth (8), William (6), Mary (4). 1891 - 11 years old schoolboy Richard is living at 19 College Street, St Helens with parents William (46), Ann (41) and seven siblings: John (20), Elizabeth (18), William (16), Mary (14), Grace (8), Charles (6), Margaret (2). [b][u]05/06/1897[/u][/b] William Prescott marries Elizabeth Povey at Eccleston Christ Church CE. 1901 - 20 years old 'Coal Miner' Richard is living at 19 College Street, St Helens with father and step mother. The household consists of: William Prescott (54), Elizabeth Prescott (44), Richard Prescott (20), Charles Prescott (15), Maggie Prescott (12), John Povey (12), [cas=967]Thomas Povey[/cas], (6) Annie Prescott (2). 1911 - See 31 years old 'Coal Miner (Hewer)' Richard living at 46 Albert Street, St Helens with wife Elizabeth (29) and four children: Annie (9), John (7), Sarah (4), Elizabeth (1).

Notes:
[url=lmem.php?lmem=21]Also Remembered On St Marks War Memorial, North Road.[/url] [cas=967]Thomas Povey[/cas] and Richard were step-brothers. Age taken from census.

The 6th (Service) Battalion was formed soon after the outbreak of war from the first thousand men who answered Kitchener's call to arms 'Your Country Needs You'. These units were afterwards known as 'K1' units. The battalion commenced training at Tidworth in Wiltshire in the barracks recently vacated by the 2nd Battalion, which had joined the British Expeditionary Force in France. Final 'polishing' took place at Blackdown, near Aldershot. In April 1915, an Expeditionary Force landed on the shores of Gallipoli as part of the Dardanelles campaign, with the ultimate aim of capturing Constantinople. The landings were not the success that was first hoped for, and reinforcements were brought in. This took place on 7th July and included the 6th Battalion, South Lancs., landing at Helles. The next few weeks were spent learning trench warfare, and included several spells in the front line. The diary for the 26th, the day Pte Prescott died, simply says 'nothing to report'. It seems likely that he simply became a victim of the daily grind of trench warfare, with grenade and sniping attacks taking a regular toll of the men.