Burnley war veteran and one of last surviving soldiers to serve in famed 79th Armoured Division of the British Army in WW2 dies at 99

Richard Preston was the eldest of four children of William and Ellen Preston who owned furniture shops on Manchester Road and Todmorden Road. His brother, Tom, was also in the army but died in an accident in Germany after the war ended, leaving Richard, William and their sister Joan.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, Richard left St Mary’s College, Blackburn at 16 and began working in a local engineering firm producing parts for aircraft engines. At 17 he joined the local Home Guard or ‘Dad’s Army’ unit based in Cliviger. He was 18 when called up to serve in the Army. After basic training Richard joined the RASC but in early 1944 transferred to the 79th Armoured Division for the long awaited invasion of Europe. Landing on Gold beach in Normandy just after D Day, the fighting took him through France, Belgium, Holland and eventually into Germany in early 1945. With the end of hostilities, Richard was posted to the BAOR in Germany until demobbed in 1947. In 2021, Richard was awarded the prestigious Chevalier Legion D’Honneur medal by the French government for his service in the liberation of France in 1944. On return to Burnley Richard joined the family business.

Richard met his future wife, newly qualified hospital doctor, Dr Mary Lucey, in the early 1950’s when he attended one of the regular dances held at local hospitals. Mary was from the Cork area of the Irish Republic. She went on to be a GP in the Burnley area and died in 1988.

The couple married in 1954 and had six children, Liam, a retired police officer, Dermot, who is a Jesuit priest, Richard, a retired police officer now working for the British Red Cross, Eileen, a retired teacher, Kieron, a driving instructor and Mary, a nursing manager.

Richard also leaves 11 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A requiem mass is to be held at St Mary’s RC Church inYorkshire Street at 10.30am on Friday December 6th.