Richard Frederick Leacroft, born on 25th June 1893, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1904. He lived with his father, Frederick, a solicitor, his mother, Alice, and his brother, John, at Fern Bank, Birmingham. John, also an Old Edwardian, served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and survived the war.
At School, Richard had a particular strength in languages, but appears not to have pursued an athletic career. After School, he spent a year as an Officer Cadet in Warwickshire, and then in 1912 emigrated to Canada with his father.
In September 1914, Richard enlisted in the Canadian Army Service Corps. In January 1915, he transferred to the British Army, with a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 12th Worcestershire Regiment. In June, while serving in France, he was attached to the 2nd Battalion, and on 10th November 1915 near La Bassée, while occupying a crater created by the explosion of a German mine, he was killed by machine-gun fire. He is buried in Cambrin Churchyard Extension Cemetery, France, and he left his estate of £462 to his mother.