Richard Henry Sedgley

He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Sedgley, of Upper Oddington. Known as Dick, Richard was one of ten children. Their father was the gardner at the 'big house' at Oddington Top owned by Colonel Martin and their mother took in washing for local families. Dick attended the village school and then worked on Mr Cox's farm in Oddington, milking cows and doing other chores. Tall and handsome, he was said to be popular with other villagers and was a regular church goer. The family was no stranger to tragedy; Dick's brother Claude was a soldier killed when his troop ship was blown up in the Mediterranean and his sister Kath died of an unidentified disease during the war.