Holloway, Paul

Born in 1893, John "Jack" Richardson was the son of the headmaster of Shaftesbury Elementary School in Forest Gate, East London. Jack loved literature, especially Beowulf, Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy. He adored the English countryside, was something of an expert on church architecture and, as if that were not enough, was also a talented amateur artist. Jack was commissioned as an officer in the 2nd City of London Fusiliers and soon found himself a 2nd Lieutenant (a subaltern) in command of a company of men in the trenches of the Western Front. On Sunday April 25th 1915 Jack was wou...