Selected Biographies

Richardson, Harry Ernest – Born: Glemsford, Suffolk on 24.11.1885.[1]  Parents: David Richardson (Agricultural Labourer) and Annie [née Golding].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Arthur Elms [b1890] and Frederick Elms [b1883].  Home: Egremont Street, Glemsford (1891), Boxted Hall, Boxted, Suffolk (1901), Park Terrace, St Marys Street, Long Melford (1921), Liston Railway Crossing Gate House, Long Melford (1939) to [1944].  Occupation: Labourer [1902], Agricultural Labourer (1911), Railway Platelayer (1921), Permanent Way Lengthsman (1939).  Married: Florence Elms of Long Melford in 1917.  Service Record: Harry enlisted briefly in 1902 as Pte.5663 with the Suffolk Regiment, re-enlisting later in the year as Pte.5569 with 1^st [Royal] Dragoons, serving in South Africa from 1911 to 1914.  His Medal Index Card suggests that at some point before the Great War he was transferred to 2^nd [Royal Scots Greys] Dragoons, as on 9.9.1914, the date he was posted to France, his former unit was still sailing to England from South Africa.  On the assumption that he served in the Scots Greys from the beginning of the War, he would have been part of 5^th Cavalry Brigade, 2^nd Cavalry Division and seen action at the Battles of the Marne, the Aisne and Messines in 1914, the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, and the First Battle of the Scarpe and Cambrai in 1917.  Before his discharge in March 1919, he was issued with a new service number as Pte.20715.[2]  During the Second World War Harry was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford, being part of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[3]  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 17.2.1944.[4]

Richardson, Michael Anthony Laurance – Born: Wissington, Suffolk on 28.9.1922.[5]  Parents: George Richardson (Farm Manager) and Alice Maud Marion [née Thrower].  Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Butcher’s Assistant (1939).  Married: Margery Evelyn Howe in 1946.  Service Record: Michael was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers in Long Melford, being part of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[6]  Died: Sudbury on 24.12.1973.

Notes – [1] Baptism Register 25.4.1886, St Marys Church, Glemsford, Suffolk and 1939 Register.  [2] Recorded as serving with 1^st Dragoons in 1917 see Marriage Register 18.10.1917, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  For details of 1^st Royal Dragoons movements see War Diary [WO 95/1153/1].  The Royal Dragoons also held the dubious distinction of having Kaiser Wilhelm II as its Colonel-in-Chief up to the outbreak of hostilities in 1914.  For details of 2^nd Royal Scots Greys’ movements see War Diary [WO 95/1139/3].  See also his Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1902, Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [3] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.  [4] National Probate Calendar.  [5] 1939 Register.  [6] Marten & Son op. cit.