BRILLIANT NEW ZEALAND OFFICER KILLED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 37, 7 November 1918, Page 4

BRILLIANT NEW ZEALAND OFFICER KILLED

9 DEATH OF MAJOR RICHMOND) . (Special Dispatch from the New Zealinid, Official War Correspondent, Captsiia M.'Boss.) ■ . October 28. Yesterday afternoon Major J. M. Eich-. mond,. D.5.0., M.C., Royal New Zealand. Artillery, was killed in action by a 5.3' shell. His death was instantaneous. Thi.s aftemoou he was buried in the Frencl'.i cemetery at Solesmes. The Bishop of! Nelson read tho service, and General:. Sir Andrew Russell and many of his comrades in the artillery attended. His loss is greatly deplored throughout the whole Division. He joined the New ' Zealand Artillery, in 1910, and left for the. war with the Main Body. He landed on Gallipoli in tho first boat conveying New Zealand troops ashore, and remained , there continuously till the evacuation, leaving in the lost boat. On the expansion of the New Zealand Expeditionary .Force to a Division in October. 1915, he was appointed BrigadeMajor of the Divisional Artillery, which appointment he held till August of this year. Wishing to obtain further experience in the field, he relinquished the position at his own request to command a battery, and on the day of his death had just taken over the temporary command of a brigade of Field Artillery. He served continuously in. Egypt, Gallipoli, and France from the end of 1914 till his death. The late Major Richmond was engaged to be married to his second cousin in England nftei the war, and had decided to resume the , profession of law. _' Hia commanding officer states,: "I considered Major Richmond one of- the most brilliant young officers I have ever known. As Brigade-Major his orders were never misunderstood; they were.so clear and concise/ He was tactful, and had a. charming manner. He was artistic, musical, and extremely well read, and had considerable literary ability. He hated war and bloodshed, and yet during all this war ihe has never left the front except on brief leave. No thought of 'danger ever deterred him from doing his duty, and his standard of duty was a high one."