Basic Details
Surname
Smith
Forenames
Richard
Gender
Male
Information stated on memorial
Served or died
Died
Service number
17326
Notes
The Roll lists his address as The Cottage, West Parade End. It inaccurately lists him as serving in the 6th Battalion; he actually served in the 7th Battalion.
[The Roll states that he was 'Reported wounded & missing, later reported "killed through dressing station being bombed on 18th August 1916 [sic]"'. Army documents, such as Medal Rolls and the Register of Soldiers' effects, record that he was presumed to have died 'on or since' 17th/18th August 1916. His death certificate records that he died on 17th August 1916 in France. It appears, however, that an admin error during the War caused his date of death to be wrongly recorded by CWGC and 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' as 17th January 1916. Based on CWGC's belief that he had died in January (when the 7th Battalion was in Belgium), they inscribed his name on the Menin Gate Memorial. As his death cert states that he died on 17th August 1916 in France, and he evidently has no known grave, he ought instead to have been commemorated on Thiepval Memorial. I have therefore submitted the relevant evidence, including his death cert, to CWGC, to enable them to correct their records. JK].

N.B. The Peterborough Roll of Honour is known to have included numerous errors, including: misspelt names; inaccurate date/place of death wrong service number/ rank/ military unit etc. Several casualties were mistakenly listed on it twice, e.g. under both their true name and also the alias under which they served; several other men were listed on the Roll due to the mistaken belief that they had died, whereas they had actually survived. On this occasion, however, the Roll of Honour's entry re Richard Smith actually recorded his correct date of death... which alerted me to the error on CWGC's record of him, and to send for his death cert. That, combined with his Army documents, will hopefully soon result in his details being corrected on CWGC's Register.
Primary Service
As stated on memorial
Unit (Primary - Stated)
Northants
Sub-unit (Primary - Stated)
6th
Rank / Title (Primary - Stated)
Pte
Our References
Service (Primary - Our reference)
Unit (Primary - Our reference)
Rank / Title (Primary - Our reference)
Death and Burial details
Country of death
Not stated
Town of death
Not stated
Country of burial
Not stated
Town of burial
Not stated on memorial
Cemetery
Not stated
Year of death
1916
Month of death
August
Day of death
18
Manner of death as stated
Reported wounded & missing, later reported "killed through dressing station being bombed on 18 Augus
Manner of death reference
Killed in Action