‘Standard’ reporter goes off to war

The public expect to have first hand information about what is happening around the world and war correspondents are frequently seen on television and read in newspapers.

However, at the outbreak of the First World War this was not such a common occurrence.

Lisburn’s main newspaper at the time, The Lisburn Standard, paid tribute to one of its reporters who enlisted to fight in the Great War.

The Lisburn Standard reported that Trooper J Gordon Richardson, who had just completed an apprenticeship with the newspaper, was serving with the British Expeditionary Force but that there had been no word of his whereabouts.

The paper rightly stated “All the boys in the shop naturally feel proud that at least one of their number is in the fighting line.”

Trooper Richardson was said to be from “good fighting stock”, following his father into service.

His father, Mr William Richardson, who lived in Laganvale Terrace, had fought in the Crimea War and served his country for twenty-one years.

The Standard reported that Mr Richardson’s only regret was that “he is now too old to shoulder a rifle against the Germans.”

Two of the three Richardson boys had already been killed in the line of duty. Gordon’s older brothers had both been killed - one in India and one in South Africa.

Gordon, the youngest of the family, was said to have enlisted to “uphold the family reputation.”

Wishing Gordon well, the Stardard concluded: “That he will prove himself a Britisher to the backbone we have no fear, and all in the works wish Gordon, should the ‘Standard’ by any means reach him on the battlefield, the best of good fortune and a safe return.