100 Days of Heroes: Bombardier Richard Higgins was buried at sea after Gallipoli

NEW Town butcher Richard Higgins was among the hundreds of Tasmanians who rushed to fight for king and country in the weeks after the British Empire declared war on Germany.

Bombardier Richard Higgins is remembered at tree 294 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue.

YOUNG New Town butcher Richard Higgins was among the hundreds of Tasmanians who rushed to fight for king and country in the weeks after the British Empire declared war on Germany at the start of August 1914.

Richard, 23, was given the number 2002 when he signed up at Pontville on August 26.

He was born at Macquarie Plains in September 1891, and the local policeman registered his birth with the New Norfolk Council a month later.

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WILLIAM JEFFREY WAS A MAN OF TRUE COURAGE

Logo for 100 days of heroes in the Mercury newspaperhundred days of heroes

Richard was the second of seven children, with three brothers and three sisters. Their father was a dairyman but left the Derwent Valley after his wife’s death in 1905.

The family initially moved to Glenorchy and later to Lenah Valley and then to Scott St, New Town.

The seven children were educated at the Glenorchy and New Town state schools. After leaving school, Richard found work as a butcher and in his spare time served with the local militia.

He left on the troop ship Geelong with the first Tasmanian contingent on October 20, 1914, having been appointed a bombardier with the Australian Field Artillery, 9th Battery.

His unit took landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, and was still there on July 31 when Richard sustained a serious bullet wound to his stomach.

He died the next day on the hospital transport Rewa and was buried at sea between Gallipoli and Alexandria by chaplain G.K. Kellan.

His name appears on the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli and his service medals were forwarded to his father at 2 Abbotsfield Rd, Claremont, in 1922.

Bombardier Richard Robert Higgins is remembered at tree 294 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue and on the Hobart Town Hall honour board.

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Richard Higgins’ plaque on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue.