George Richards
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
George Richards was born in 1895 at Hucknall and was the son of Charles a coal miner and Agnes Richards of 9 Mellors Row Hucknall Torkard Nottinghamshire. His father Charles was born in 1847 at Hucknall and his mother Agnes was born in 1862 at Bolsover, Derbyshire, they were married and had the following children, Charles b1884, James b1890, Mabel b1893, George b1895 and Anna b1898 all born in Hucknall. It is believed that both his parents had died before 1911 prior to his enlistment into the army. In the 1911 censes the family are living at 9 Mellows Row Hucknall and are shown as Charles 27 yrs head of the family a colliery labourer, he is living with his brother James 20 yrs no occupation shown as an imbecile, his sister Mabel 18 yrs a domestic working at home and his brother George 16 yrs a colliery labourer.
Private George Richards enlisted on 20th November 1911 at Kimberley, he gave his age as 17 yrs and 5 months , his address as 9 Mellors Row, Hucknall, Nottingham and his next of kin as his brother Charles Richards of the same address, he gave his occupation as that of a collier. He was posted to the 8th battalion Sherwood Foresters and when war broke out he was embodied and landed in France on 2nd March 1915. He was killed in action on 30th August 1915 and is buried at Woods Cemetery, Belgium grave reference I.A.12
Article published 2nd December 1915 in the Hucknall Dispatch:- ANOTHER LOCAL HERO. “As mentioned in another part of this journal, another Hucknall death in Belgium has to be recorded, namely, Private George Richards, formerly of Mellows' row, Hucknall, who was in the Territorials. he was in camp at the time of the outbreak of war, and answered the mobilisation call. It was not until February that he went to France, and according to the letters received by his sister — Mrs. Fisher, of Hazel grove — he was killed on August 31st under singular circumstances. “Both the Lieut.-Colonel and the Second- Lieut. have sent letters to Mrs. Fisher, stating that Richards was cleaning a bomb, when it exploded, killing himself, and wounding two others beside him. It was a pure accident, and exactly how it happened was not known but he was doing his duty and serving his country in her hour of need. In the last letter which he wrote he said they had had it very hot in the trenches for 19 days, and had got wet through when coming out. The Germans shelled them nearly every day. It is said they are short of munitions, but it did not seem like it. He adds that one of his pals was killed when he was only a few yards away from him. He little thought that his fate was only a matter of hours and that that was the last letter he would write. “Private Richards' parents are both dead, but will be remembered by many people Hucknall, where they had lived for many years. Mrs. Fisher was his only sister in Hucknall, another sister residing out of town. “The photographs above include George Richards, a Hucknall man in the Sherwood Foresters, whose death was notified some time ago, but whose photograph has not been previously published. Happily a photograph has been obtained from a group, in which was Richard Arnold, of Montague road, who is a wounded soldier. Richards' parents are both dead, and there is only a sister (Mrs. Fisher, Hazel grove) and a brother in Mellows' row.” Above newspaper article is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
