Richard Hazlewood was born in the spring of 1892 in Kentish Town, Middlesex. One of at least seven children, his parents were railway engine driver George Hazlewood and his wife, Sarah.

There is frustratingly little documentation for Richard’s early life. The family do not appear on the 1901 or 1911 census records, and it is only when he enlists on 5th June 1915, that his name appears on paperwork once more.

Richard was working as a cook when he joined up, and gave this up to join the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. His service record notes that he was a little over 5ft 9ins (1.76m) tall, and had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Rifleman Hazlewood was attached to the 12th Battalion, and, after his initial training, he was sent to France. He would spend the next three years overseas, his unit being caught up in the fighting at the Somme and Ypres. In February 1917, he spent a few days in hospital, suffering from scabies in his right foot.

In the autumn of 1918, Richard came down with pneumonia. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the Station Road Hospital in Gillingham, Dorset. His condition would prove fatal: Rifleman Hazlewood passed away on 12th November – a day after the Armistice was signed. He was 26 years of age.

George had died in 1911, and it seems likely that Sarah, who was now living at the St Pancras Almshouses, Kentish Town, was unable to cover the cost of bringing her son back to Middlesex. Richard Hazlewood was instead laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, not far form the Dorset hospital in which he had died.

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