Richard Reading, CdeG(B)

Richard Reading CdeG(B) (1876–1929) was an English journalist, baritone and Chevalier of the Order of Leopold.

Early life and career Richard Reading was born in Bury, Lancashire and was the son of T. Reading, of Warwickshire, England. Reading was educated in Birmingham. A well-regarded sports journalist, Reading rose to prominence writing for Manchester's "Sporting Chronicle", acted as the sporting editor for Manchester's "Daily Sketch" of the Manchester Press Club. Reading was a friend and contemporary of the war correspondent Sir Basil Clarke and became the subject of Clarke's first important correspondence from the front.

Belgian service and the First World War At the outbreak of the First World War, the British army rejected Reading because he was over its age limit. There he initially enlisted with the 3rd Belgian Lancers in the early stages of the war and was soon promoted to the rank of corporal. He transferred to a Minerva Armored Car unit, the Corps de Mitrailleuses under Count Pierre de Lunden, that was active at both the Belgian and French Fronts. An account of his heroism follows.

Reading had been on a scouting expedition with his armoured car unit when he identified an advance guard of the German army. The Germans had set up an ambush and opened fire. Reading was able to warn the other four men of the unit, instructing them to save themselves and the armoured car and not to worry about him. Under gunfire, the car moved off at speed. For a quarter of a mile, the occupants were unaware that Reading had grasped on to the back of the car and was being dragged. Reading had been shot in both legs by German expanding bullets and had also sustained significant injuries from being dragged at speed. Despite his wounds, he was described by a nurse as coming "in on a stretcher bright as a button, smoking a cigar and laughing". Reading required multiple surgeries and spent two years at Worsley New Hall convalescing from the wounds he sustained in this skirmish that left him needing the aid of crutches to walk. Reading, badly injured by shrapnel from the explosion, survived the sinking. A cabin mate rescued him before the ship sank.

On his eventual arrival in Australia, Reading initially settled in Brunswick Heads, New South Wales. Reading worked in oyster culture in the region for 5 years. During this time, he married Mary Drusilla Taylor on 8 July 1920 at the Church of St Mary Ballina. Reading contributed to the community in the area. He organised local sporting events, wrote occasional newspaper articles under the moniker "Chev" and compiled a local publication on Brunswick Heads. Reading rekindled his singing and was a popular baritone participating in the local social and cultural life. He performed for patriotic and charitable concerts in the Richmond River district On 22 September 1929, in accordance with his last wishes, Reading's ashes were scattered three-quarters of a mile off the breakwater of the Richmond River near to Reading's Bay by Captain Upward of the "Milora". During the Independence Centenary commemoration in Brussels in 1930, his widow was presented to the King and Queen of Belgium. The council later sold the asset.