434568 Private John Richmond

John Richmond left Scotland for Canada where he worked as a miner in Southern Alberta. Enlisting in 1915, he joined the 49th Battalion (E.R.) in Flanders in early 1916. In March 1916, a small detachment of volunteers was formed to assist British tunnelling efforts beneath Sanctuary Wood in the Ypres Salient. Amongst those that answered the call was John Richmond. Three months later Sanctuary Wood was attacked on mass by the Germans. One by one the Canadian trenches fell and the detachment, then positioned in Cumberland Dugouts, was cutoff and enveloped in a deadly crossfire. Very few of the detachment survived. 31 year old John Richmond was reported as missing following the battle. His body was never found. He left behind a wife.