Cheltonians Buried in Hooge Crater Cemetery, Belgium


   LEAVING CHELTENHAM …………..and all that was dear

 

Hooge Crater Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium

 

CWGC Cemetery Information can be viewed here

 

Image source and copyright Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)

   Cheltonians Buried in the Hooge Crater Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium

 

There is 1 Cheltonian buried in the Hooge Crater Cemetery

 

A row of 10 headstones, each one commemorating an officer or soldier who is believed to be buried in this cemetery.   Capt Hardy’s headstone is third from the left.

 

Captain Richard Luard HARDY, 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps, is commemorated on a Special Memorial in Hooge Crater Cemetery in Plot A.3.   He has no known grave but is believed to be buried in the cemetery.

He was killed in action on 24th August 1917 in the Inverness Copse area of the Ypres Salient whilst leading his men in a counter-attack against Germans who had broken through the battalion’s defences.

He is commemorated on the Cheltenham War Memorial and on the St Luke’s Church Roll of Honour.

His parents, Richard Gillies Hardy of the Indian Civil Service and Charlotte Annie Hardy, resided at “Esmond”, 2 College Lawn, Cheltenham and later resided at “The Hurst”, Church Crookham, Hants.   He was the grandson of Admiral Sir William Garnham Luard, KCB, Legion of Honour, JP.

The inscription at the base of the headstone reads” Till the day break, shadows flee away”.

Captain Hardy was “Mentioned in Despatches” in Field Marshal Haig’s Despatch of 9th April 1917 published in the Second Supplement to the London Gazette, Number 30093, dated 25th May 1917.   Capt Hardy’s “mention” is on page 5162.

 

 

Richard Luard Hardy

1890 – 1917

In a letter to Captain Hardy’s parents his Colonel wrote:  “It is with the greatest regret that I have to tell you that your son was killed in action on August 24th.   The enemy counter-attacked at dawn and was reported to have broken through and to be coming on, so all the Headquarters people rushed out to line a ridge in front, to meet the attack.   The attack failed and then I missed your son and found he had advanced with a small party in pursuit of the enemy, and from what I was told by a man of another regiment, it was whilst gallantly leading his men that he was hit by a bullet and died almost instantly.   I can’t tell you how much I shall miss him.   As my Adjutant, I naturally saw a great deal of him and had the highest opinion of him.   He never spared himself in his unceasing work for the battalion and yet was always cheerful and I never failed to receive from him the most loyal support at all times.   He was universally popular with all ranks of the battalion.   Some months ago I sent his name in for promotion or reward”.

 

1.   With sincere thanks to Mr Mike Shingleton who very kindly provided the photos of Capt Hardy’s special memorial headstone.

 

Page last updated:   28th September 2017

 

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