Killed in action aged 25
Buried in Soupir churchyard near Vailly-sur-Aisne.
Richard William Gregory was born at Denton Manor, Grantham, elder son and heir of Sir Charles Glynne Earle Welby 5th Bt CB, formerly MP for Newark; by his wife Lady Maria Helen, sister of Frederick William Fane, 4th Marquis of Bristol and elder daughter of the late Lord Augustus Hervey.
Richard was educated Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.
On 23 February 1910, he was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant, and promoted Lieutenant on 24 May 1911. He went to France with his battalion, which formed part of the 4th (Guards) Brigade, on 12 August 1914, took part in the retreat from Mons, and was killed in action at Cour de Soupir, the battle of Aisne 16 September 1914.
The Officer commanding his Battalion wrote: “We have been fighting a hard battle and had a very severe action on Tuesday when Dick Welby was wounded in the shoulder. We were very short of officers owing to our heavy casualties and every officer of Dicks coy had been killed or wounded. He very pluckily insisted on remaining at duty during the following day; on the third day we got a terrible shelling and poor Dick was killed. I can‘t tell you how we all deplore Dick‘s loss nor how gallantly he did his duty to the end“
Lieutenant Welby was mentioned in F M Sir John (later Lord) French‘s Despatch of 8 October (London Gazette 19 October) 1914.