15 Facts About Richard Travis

Richard Travis volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War and served briefly at Gallipoli.

Richard Travis was later sent to France where he fought in the trenches along the Western Front, earning a reputation as scout and sniper and receiving awards for his gallantry.

Richard Travis acquired various farming skills, but showed a particular talent for horse breaking, for which he earned a degree of local fame.

Richard Travis continued to work as a farmhand and further enhanced his reputation for horse breaking.

Less than a month after the outbreak of the First World War, Richard Travis sought to join the 7th Mounted Rifles, a squadron of the Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment.

Richard Travis, who was part of the transport section and had responsibility for breaking in new horses, was not scheduled to proceed with the rest of the Southland Mounted Rifles Squadron.

Richard Travis later received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the British Empire's second highest gallantry award, for this action, the published citation for his award, which appeared in The London Gazette in November 1916, reading as follows:.

Richard Travis went out by himself and accounted for several enemy snipers who were firing at a working party.

Richard Travis has on many previous occasions done very fine work.

In early December 1917 Richard Travis was sent to England; this was intended to be for a period of three months but Richard Travis agitated for an earlier return and rejoined his battalion, serving on the front lines near Polygon Wood in Flanders, in mid January 1918.

Later, after the attack had been checked by heavy fire from a number of machine gun positions, seeing the danger, Richard Travis approached two weapons pits alone and killed their occupants.

Richard Travis was killed the following day in a German artillery barrage while accompanying an officer on an inspection of the battalion's positions.

Richard Travis was killed 24 hours later when, in a most intense bombardment prior to an enemy counter-attack, he was going from post to post encouraging the men.

Richard Travis is remembered by a memorial at Ryal Bush, where he was living at the time of his enlistment in the NZEF, and by a plaque in Queen's Gardens in Dunedin.

Richard Travis was the subject of a painting by Richard Wallwork.