THE GRANDAUGHTER of First World War soldier Richard Langrick who is buried in Droitwich’s St Mary’s Churchyard said one of the most memorable moments of 2018 was when they went to visit his grave ahead of the centenary of Armistice Day.
Suzanne Allcock and her daughter Joanne Williams, who live in Hadfield in north Derbyshire, visited his resting place in November and met Droitwich historian and author Paul Jones.
Paul featured Sapper Langrick’s story in his book St Mary’s Churchyard.
Sapper Langrick passed away in 1914 after being invalided and taken to the Highfield Hospital in Droitwich.
Highfield House was taken by Lady Georgina Vernon and Sir Harry Vernon (local honorary secretary of the Red Cross Society) as a convalescent home for soldiers and cared for wounded troops from many regiments across the country.
Suzanne said: “It was great to meet Paul and to see a picture of my grandfather in a group photograph I hadn’t seen before.
“We also got to meet the vicar Rev Nigel Byard and Kevin Hyett who has cleaned up the churchyard – it was so much better than the last time I visited.
“It was tidy and you could see the graves clearly.
“The visit really brought it all to life, especially for my daughter who had not seen the grave before.
“The day was both enjoyable and sombre with it being so close to the centenary of the end of the First World War and the anniversary of his death.”
Paul said: “It was lovely to meet Suzanne and I am very grateful to her for supplying photographs of Sapper Langrick that we hadn’t had access to before.”
Visit https://droitwichstandard.co.uk/news/the-story-of-sapper-richard-langrick-a-first-world-war-soldier-buried-in-droitwich/ to read Sapper Langrick’s story in full, as told by Paul.
