A FINE TRIBUTE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 131, 27 February 1919, Page 6

A FINE TRIBUTE

TO THE LATE MAJOR J. M. RICHMOND, D.S.O.

GENERAL'S APPRECIATION

The following appreciation of the inte Major J. M. Richmond, D.5.0., New Zealand Artillery, who wis lulled in France a few days before the armistice was signed, has been written >y Jin--rulier-General G. N. Johnston, Commander. Royal Artillery, New Zealand ■ Division:— ' , ... , ' "Few people in New Zealand will α-ea - ise that in Major J. M. Richmond, D.5.0., M.C., E.N.Z.A., who was killed by a 5.9 shell on tho high road between Solesmes nnd Le Quesnoy on the ntternoon of Sunday, October l>7, :'UB, i\«!« Zealand lost one of her most promising stall' officers. , r . ''Leaving New Zealand with rhe Man Body in October, Ml, he eerved with the New Zealand Field Artillery without, a break until the day of his death first as adjutant of the Held Artilleiy Brigade, and later, when the loree* expanded into a division, as brigade major of the Divisional Artillery, winch appointment ho held until August 14,1918, when he relinquished Tl at his iwn request to comvnand a battery. He landed in the first boat conveying Ney Zealand troops to the shore at GaUipoli, and remained at Anzac till the final day of evacuation, when he embarked in the la«t boat, having volunteered to assist in" the Wowing up of an oW %*• which was kept in action till the last; moment. He accompanied the division to I'Vance, and sawed in ill Ihe engagements in which tho New Zealand Artillery took part. The infantry spends only « portion of its time in the .'ine, whereas the artillery seldom leaves it. J. his necessitates a great deal -if fighting in conjunction with other divisions, and all senior Mid staff artillery officers with whom the New Zealand Artillery worked were loud in their praise of ihe work and abilities of Major Richmond. "His orders were models of what orders should be; lucid and concise, they were never misunderstood; and his instructions wore so well written that neighbouring divisions often copied them. In thirty years' experience I have never known an officer who could so quickly grasp t<, complicated tactical situation and make it appear simple in orders. In addition, he combined with this quickness extreme. thoroughness; it was most unusual to find tho slightest mistake even in detail in any of his work. Ho also had a capacity for mental endurance, and could continue working for 21 hours at a stretch during operations, only giving in when the critical stages of a bottle were over, when it was his habit to sleep for some 12 to. 16 hours at a stireteh. He had great tact in dealing with commanding officers of attached units; it" is probably well known that in modern , battles the divisional artillery is insufficient, and that generally in all battles in which the New Zealand!. Division took part tliree or more additional brigades of artillery reinforced it. Without exception the attached brigade commanders, assured the.C;R-.A., New- Zealand Division, that they had never been attached to a, division where the orders were so clear and where no much help had been given by the brigade mafor; in fact, it is not too much to Bay that Major Richmond established a reputation among senior officers of tlio Home artillery as a Staff officer of exceptional attainments. His oyc- for country was excellent; he could walk over a, now bit. of country, go' back to headquarters, and draw u very accurate panoramic sketch of it from memory.

"ilo made a. most charming companion in niKS, was exceptionally well read, with a good memory, and was devoted to music; it was often' his hab.it in Arineiitieres, where headquarters were billeted in houses, to come, into a room adjoining t'he office during « raid and relieve, the strain by playing the piano. During a battle or raid , it is necessary for the divisional staff to remain «t headquarters and direct operations, and the strain awaiting developments _is severe. ! ' ' "On- ordinary days he visited the batteries, brigades, and observation stations, and never shrank from carrying out his duty, no matter how dangerous. He hated bloodshed, and the writer well remembers his horror at seeing blood during the first day of landing at Galli'poll When inoculated he always fainted, and yet there were few braver men in the Division. On one of the last occasions on which the writer saw him ho was trying to stem the-flow of blood from a horse which had just been wounded near Havrictmrt Wood.

"Altogether he was a most interesting personality, and his death.was a severe loss to the Division as well as a great grief to his brother officers, more particularly to his G.O.C, with whom he had been in closest association during the war. He was the last of -four E.N.Z.A. officers wl-o joined the regiment towards the end of lONMDavies, Daniell, Turner, Richmond, all of whom have been killed in France. On the day of his death he had taken over command of a brigade of field artillery, and it was at the entrance to his new headquarters, a ruined collage next to his batteries, that he was killed. "Copies of all orders and instructions issued by the New Zealand Divisional Artillery have been kept for record. Should some future New Zealand artillery officer wish to get a-thorough knowledge of modern war in so far as it affects artillery, and to learn how to write orders, he could not do better than to take as his model those written by Major J. Jf. Richmond, E.N.Z.A."