Richard Harold Nash
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Richard Harold was the youngest son of Alfred Charles and wife Eliza Nash (née Herring). His father was born in Hay, Breconshire, Wales, and his mother in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Alfred and Eliza were married at Nottingham Holy Trinity in September 1881 and had five children who were all born in Nottingham: Alfred Edgar b. 1884, Esther Alice b. 1886, Mary Ellen b. 1888 and Maude Mabel b. 1890 all of whom were baptised at Nottingham St Mark, and Richard Harold b. 1893. Alfred, a painter and decorator, and Eliza were living at 27 Northumberland Street, Nottingham, in 1886 when their two oldest children were baptised and were still at the same address in 1901. In the home on the night of the census were Alfred, Eliza a hosiery hand, Alfred (17) a painter and decorator, Esther (14) a lace hand, Mary (12), Maude (10) and Richard (7). Eliza Nash died in 1908 and Alfred married secondly Mary Locke in 1910. A year later in 1911 they were living at 48 Dame Agnes Street by which time all of Alfred's children had left home. Alfred died in 1926. Alfred Edgar had married Alice Hall in 1908 and in 1911 they were living on St Albans Street. Esther married Harry Richard Brown in 1908 and they and their two children together with Esther's unmarried sister, Maude, were living on Belvoir Street, Sneinton. Mary Ellen was living on Richmond Avenue with her husband Walter Wilkinson (m. 1909) while Richard, a hairdresser, was lodging with a family on St Ann's Well Road. Richard married Beatrice Alice Boulter (b. 1893) in 1916 (J/A/S) and it appears from the notices of his death which were published in the local paper in 1918 that she continued to live with her parents at 264 Woodborough Road, Nottingham, after their marriage. However, the later CWGC record gave her address as 207 Mansfield Road, Nottingham. Beatrice married Claude Hoffen in 1924; there were no children of the marriage. She died in 1982.
Pte. Nash enlisted in the North Staffordshire Regiment (No. 53108) then volunteered for the Tank Corps, where he was placed with 'F' Battalion. His tank was knocked out during the Battle of Cambriai (20 November 1917-8 December 1917), which was the first large-scale, and effective, use of tanks in the war. Richard was initially reported missing on 27 November 1917; his name was included on a list of 'missing' in a London District Tank Corps (Westminster) casualty list dated 20 December 1917, held in the army record of another member of the Tank Corps. However, an International Committee of the Red Cross record suggests that information about Richard's death on 7 December 1917 while a prisoner of war had been ascertained by 11 December. Richard's family did not have confirmation of his death until February the following year. Richard is buried in St. Aubert British Cemetery, France (V. A. 20.). CWGC - History of St Aubert British Cemetery (extract): The village of St. Aubert is approximately 13 kilometres east of Cambrai. 'The cemetery was begun by the 24th Division on 12 October 1918, just after the capture of the village. Other units continued to use it until 23 October, by which time it contained 33 graves of the 3rd Rifle Brigade and 24 others, most of the current Plot I. After the Armistice, over 370 graves were brought in from the battlefields of Cambrai (November-December 1917) and Cambrai and the Selle (October 1918) and from the following smaller cemeteries in the area [listed].' One of the cemeteries listed is Avesnes-Les-Aubert Communal Cemetery and 'the German Extension (of about 400 graves), in which 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Canada were buried from a German Feldlazarett [field hospital], November 1917-September 1918' which might have been Richard's original place of burial. (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'At rest with the Lord' CWGC: 'Son of A. C. Nash, of 48, Dame Agnes St., Nottingham; husband of Beatrice Alice Nash, of 207, Mansfield Rd., Nottingham.' Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 28 February 1918: ‘Nash. In loving memory of Gunner RH Nash, Tank Corps, son-in-law of Mr and Mrs E Boulton, 264 Woodborough-road, died of wounds December 7th, 1917.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 2 March1918: ‘Nash. In loving memory of Gunner RH Nash (Dick), Tank Corps, the dearly loved husband of Beatrice Nash, 264 Woodborough-road, reported missing November 27th, now reported died of wounds December 7th, 1917.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 7 December 1918: ‘Nash. In loving memory of my dear husband, Gnr, RH Nash, Tank Corps, died of wounds a prisoner of war, December 7th, 1917. Sadly missed.' (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) ‘In Memoriam’ notices were placed in the Nottingham Evening Post by his widow on 7 December 1918 and 8 December 1919. WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards and Registers of Soldiers' Effects: widow Beatrice A Nash.
