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  Lieutenant
JAMES FOSTER RICHARDS
Royal Engineers

 by

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis
Ó 2018.  All Rights Reserved.  

1.  INTRODUCTION  

            The principal references used in the preparation of this narrative were from a number of sources.  They include Army Lists, census records, official registries in the United Kingdom, medal rolls, family trees, medal rolls, unit histories and war diaries, the London and Edinburgh Gazettes and many other sources available on the Internet.  All sources are contained in the REFERENCE section at the end of the narrative and are cited throughout in the ENDNOTES.  Every effort has been made to accurately portray the life and military service of Lieutenant James Foster Richards.

            Where specific details regarding the service of Lieutenant Richards have not been uncovered directly, the locations and service of his military unit have been used to suggest where he might have been or what he might have been doing during the time that he spent in the Army and while serving in the Great War.

            Work is still in progress on this project.  The author is attempting to obtain Richards’ service papers from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow with the hope of adding additional details to his military service.         

2.  EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION  

            James Foster Richards was born on the 1^st of April 1887 at Illogan, Cornwall.  He was the first and only son of James and Margaret Richards.  His father, James, was a mining engineer who was born in 1849.  Although the 1891 shows his occupation as “Mining Engineer,” the 1881 Census shows that he was a “Mine Engine Driver.”  Therefore, the use of the term mining engineer may not indicate that he had the professional credentials of an engineer, but rather he was the driver of an engine much like the driver of a train is known today as the “engineer.”  James’s mother Margaret Richards (née Shugg) also was born in Illogan, Cornwall in 1848. 

            The 1891 Census of England and Wales provides the following information regarding the Richards family. 

 NOTE:

1. The 1881 Census of England and Wales showed another daughter by the name of Annie L. Richards living in the household at that time.  Annie would have been 19 years of age in 1891 and apparently had left home.
2. Illogan was a prominent center of tin mining in the early industrial age and the birthplace of engineer and inventor Richard Trevithick.  Trevithick was the inventor of the world’s first steam railway locomotive.
3. With Illogan being the mining heartland of Cornwall it is not unusual that James Richards and his daughter Emily would be involved in mining and that his son, James Foster Richards would later become a mining engineer and a tunneller officer in the Royal Engineers during the Great War.

            No 1901 Census could be found for the Richards family on the Internet.  A search was made for James and Margaret and each of the children with negative results.  However, in 1911 James Foster Richards was found living as a boarder at Cripplesease, Nancledra, Penzance, Cornwall in the home of one Lenord Quick, a widower.  Cripplesease was located in another significant mining area of Cornwall, so it is not unusual that James would be living and working there.  His occupation in the 1911 Census is listed as “Mining Engineer.”  No information could be uncovered to determine if he had attended a university to obtain qualifications as a true mining engineer or, if like his father, he was using the term engineer in its loosest sense.

            The passenger manifest of RMS Asturias[1] shows James Foster Richards arriving at Southampton from Lisbon, Portugal on the 4^th of May 1912.  His occupation is listed as “Miner” and his country of last permanent residence is shown as Portugal.[2]  He apparently had begun his mining career at the age of 25 or before and found working in this profession more lucrative abroad than it was in Cornwall.            

3.  MILITARY ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Commissioning and Training

            As with many young men of his generation the Great War of 1914-1918 James Foster Richards was drawn inexorably into to that storm of death and destruction.  On the 16^th of October 1915 he was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers (Army Number P142508).  The fact that he was commissioned is a further indication that he probably had earned a university degree in mining engineering and/or had been enrolled in an Officers Training Corps at some university.  His Medal Index Card (MIC) shows that he was posted to the 254^th Tunnelling Company of the Royal Engineers and that he went to Gallipoli on the 2^nd of November 1915. Tunnelling companies were comprised of five Officers and 269 Other Ranks, aided by temporarily attached infantrymen as required, which almost doubled the companies' number.

            Presumably Richards must have received some basic military training as an officer prior to being posted to his company.  Many of the officers, such as Richards, were selected for this duty because of their prior civilian experience as mining engineers or miners.  However, as seen in Figure 1 below, they also received training in military mining prior to active service and they appear to have received this specialized training in Tunnelling Officer Classes.  Additionally, as officers in the Royal Engineers they might be called upon to perform other field engineering duties besides mining; hence, the requirement for a basic course in military engineering, probably at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham.

Figure 1.  A Tunnelling Officers Class, circa 1915.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

Service in the 254^th Tunnelling Company

            The 254th Tunnelling Company was formed in England and moved to Gallipoli in December 1915, where it merged with the existing VIII Corps Mining Company – but too late to have any serious impact on operations there. VIII Corps Mining Company was an improvised unit formed on Gallipoli, which had seen much activity against the Turks in the Helles area between mid-1915 and December of that year, when it was merged into the newly arrived 254th Tunnelling Company.  From Gallipoli, 254th Tunnelling Company was moved to France and relieved 176th Tunnelling Company in the northern Givenchy area in spring 1916.

NOTE:  James Foster Richards was initiated into the Mt. Edgecumbe Masonic Lodge in Camborne, Cornwall on the 25^th of May 1916.[3]  The Lodge register shows his occupation as Mining Engineer and that he remained a member of the Lodge until 1921.  Since his company was in France in the spring of 1916, Richards must have been home on leave in May in order to be initiated into the Lodge. 

            Casualties from enemy action did not start to occur until the company reached France.  A summary of the company’s battle casualties will be provides later in this narrative.  One Sapper (45483 Bertram Osborne) had died at Home in October of 1915 before the unit went to Gallipoli and a Driver (33220 John Kinsella) died at sea on the 30^th of January 1916, perhaps during the evacuation from Gallipoli. 

            The unit war diary indicates that upon arrival in the Givenchy area the company, under the command of Captain G. Maitland, R.E., began digging mine shafts and laterals in the area of the 33^rd Division, XI Corps.  Unit losses during the period included the following men:[4]

† 136280 Sapper Joseph Williams, killed in action on 19 February 1916

† 79904 Sapper Michael Flynn, killed in action on 16 April 1916

† 146204 Sapper James Podmore, died at home on 20 May 1916

† 121998 Sapper Joseph Darrington, killed in action on 4 June 1916

† 102088 Lance Corporal John James Edney, killed in action on 22 June 1916

Figure 2.  Lance Corporal John James Edney, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Tamworth Herald, 22 July 1916)

Figure 3.  Obituary for Lance Corporal J.J. Edney, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Tamworth Herald, 22 July 1916)

† 132981 Lance Corporal Richard Sanderson, killed in action on 22 June 1916

† 136414 Sapper William Hackett, VC, killed in action on 27 June 1916

Sapper Hackett was awarded the Victoria Cross “for most conspicuous bravery when entombed with four others in a gallery owing to the explosion of an enemy mine. After working for 20 hours, a hole was made through fallen earth and broken timber, and the outside party was met. Sapper Hackett helped three of the men through the hole and could easily have followed, but refused to leave the fourth, who had been seriously injured, saying," I am a tunneller, I must look after the others first." Meantime, the hole was getting smaller, yet he still refused to leave his injured comrade. Finally, the gallery collapsed, and though the rescue party worked desperately for four days the attempt to reach the two men failed. Sapper Hackett well knowing the nature of sliding earth, the chances against him, deliberately gave his life for his comrade".

            The action that led to Sapper Hackett’s gallant action is described by Jones (pp. 140-141).[5]  It resulted from a successful German mining action at Givenchy-lez-la- Bassée.  In this sector, just north of where the chalk of Vimy and the Somme rises from the ground, the shafts and galleries of the 254^th were driven through sandy clay and were very softened by ground water.  At 0250 hours on the 22^nd of June, the German 295^th Pioneer Mining Company blew a large mine, which destroyed two saps and three lines of trenches and wiped out nearly two-thirds of “B” Company of the 2^nd Royal Welch Fusiliers.  The blow was followed up by a strong raiding party of German infantry.  The British named the result of this mine the Red Dragon Crater.  The blow also badly damaged the nearby workings of the 254^th Tunnelling Company.  Five men were cut off at the face by the collapse of a gallery from Shaftsbury shaft.  It was these horrendous circumstances that led to Hackett’s supreme sacrifice.

Figure 5.  Sapper William Hackett, VC.

(Photograph courtesy of the Royal Engineers Museum)

Figure 6.  Private Thomas Collings, 14^th Battalion, Welsh Regiment (Swansea Pals), the Man that Sapper William Hackett, VC refused to leave behind.

(Photograph courtesy of THE TUNNELLER’S MEMORIAL)

            Two additional men were lost by the company at the end of June following the heroic action by Sapper Hackett.  These men were:

† 94570 Sapper Alexander Anderson, killed in action on 30 June 1916

† 158084 Sapper Edgar Dingle, killed in action on 30 June 1916

            Men of the 254^th Tunnelling Company mounted a raid to destroy German mineshafts on the 5^th and 6^th of July 1916. 18275 Corporal J. Davies earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal for leading this raid.  The citation for his award reads as follows:[6]

            For conspicuous gallantry when acting as bomber and leader of a party of miners, who followed a raid to destroy the enemy's shafts. He was heavily attacked and wounded badly in three places, but stuck to his post and bombed till the enemy were either killed or driven away. The work of destruction was completed.

            The company continued tunnelling work throughout the summer and autumn of 1916 with the only changes being the divisions and corps for which it worked, and the officers who commanded it, as shown below.[7]  Unit losses during the period were relatively light.

·          12 July – 15 August 1916 with the 39^th Division in the XI Corps area.

† 148598 Sapper Allan Rolfe, died of wounds on 15 July 1916

·          16 August - 19 September 1916 with the 30^th Division in the XI Corps area.

† 132677 Sapper F.G. Organ, killed in action on 20 August 1916

† 91981 Sapper Frank Mansell, died on 24 August 1916

† 156489 Sapper William T. Griffiths, killed in action on 13 September 1916

            Between about the middle of September 1916 until about the middle of January 1916, the company did not lose any men due to enemy action.

·          20 September – 3 October 1916 with the 31^st Division in the XI Corps area, under the command of Captain H.H.W. Boyes, R.E.  Captain Boyes wrote the following supplement to his mine report of 20 September 1916 describing the work done in that area with special emphasis on listening for enemy tunnelling activities:

SUPPLEMENT TO

WEEKLY MINE REPORT.

G E N E R A L  I N F O R M A T I O N

-------------------------

NORTH GIVENCHY.

                    Considerable amount of work has been done making Proto

Dugout in Scottish Trench – also work on Officers’ and Orderlys’ Dugouts.

These latter dugouts in PARK LANE are now complete.  One shift –

no fatigue party for whole front owing to Divisional move.

Continual trouble with electric pumps all through the week and

mining progress delayed accordingly.   These pumps are most unsatis-

factory.

 LISTENING

                    For three days no sounds have been heard from SUNKEN

ROAD Mines – previous to this, enemy had been heard quite plainly.

Central system of Listening has been installed in BUNNY HUTCH,

ORCHARD and HALF MOON Mines.  In BUNNY HUTCH the Western Electric

Apparatus is used as Detector and Listening is done from Dugout near

PENT HOUSE.

The Central station for ORCHARD and HALF MOON Mines is HALF MOON PENT HOUSE.  Here the Water electric and Sadlier Jackson Detectors are

used.

The Water electric has been found very satisfactory and the other

Types, though good, have not come up to the Water electric type.

All sounds are always further investigated by Listening at face with

Geophone.

A system of signalling by electric lights is being installed in

WILLOW, COVENTRY and TWO YEAR Shafts.  By means of a switch in the

Pent House of each of these shafts, a coloured light can be turned

On from either Pent House at all faces of all the shafts at any time

as a signal for every man to cease work and remain quiet.

The Listener at any face can then be sure that any sounds heard are

not from our own workings and should prevent enemy working under

cover of our own picking without being detected.

Sd. H.H. W Boyes. Capt. R.E.

20.9.16                                                                    O.C. 254 Tunnelling Coy.

·          4 -10 October 1916 with the 31^st Division in the XI Corps area, under the command

of Captain Alfred Osborn Wraith, R.E.

·   11 – 25 October 1916 with the 5^th Division in the XI Corps area.

·   26 October to 11 November 1916 with the 5^th Division in the XI Corps area, under the command of Captain H.H.W. Boyes, R.E.

·   12 – 28 November 1916 with the 5^th Division in the XI Corps area, under the command of Captain Alfred Osborn Wraith, R.E.

·   29 November – 20 December 1916 with the 6^th Division in the XI Corps area.

·   21 December 1916 into April of 1917 with the 5^th Division in the XI Corps area.  

         During this period the company suffered a significant number of casualties, losing two men in January, six men in February and one man in April of 1917.

† 79489 Sapper Evan Evans, killed in action on 13 January 1917

† 155910 Sapper Arthur Tom Mitchell, killed in action on 13 January 1917

† 79643 Sapper David Aitken, killed in action on 5 February 1917

Figure 9.  Sapper David Aitken.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

† 198754 Acting 2^nd Corporal Samuel Jones, killed in action on 5 February   1917

† Captain William Douglas Madore, R.E., killed in action on 10 February 1917[8]

† 175870 Sapper Henry Owen, died of wounds on 11 February 1917

† 146230 Sapper Thomas Mutter, killed in action on 18 February 1917

† 136301 Sapper Rueben Wilson, killed in action on 18 February 1917

† 156221 Sapper Timothy Thompson, killed in action on 8 April 1917

            From the 9^th to the 14^th of April 1917 the company took part in the Battle of Vimy and operated in the XIX Corps sector, losing only one man during the period, 199098 Sapper Dennis O’Keefe, who was killed in action on the 11^th of April 1917 during the action at Vimy.  Following this battle the company resumed its tunnelling activities (digging mine shafts and laterals) in various division and corps sectors in the Givenchy area as shown in the chronology below.

NOTE:  James Foster Richards was admitted as an Associate of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in April of 1917.  In the Institute Journal he is listed as a 2^nd Lieutenant, Royal Engineers.[9]  He need not have been in the U.K. when this occurred.  He might have applied for Associate Membership prior to going on active service and his application was approved while he was in France.  

·         23 May – 6 June 1917 with 55^th Division in the VIII Corps area, under the command of Captain Alfred Osborn Wraith, R.E.  Elements of the company were sent to Ypres where they built and maintained trenches just behind the front lines.

·         7 June – 31 July 1917 with the 5^th Division in the XIX Corps area, under the command of Captain H.H.W. Boyes, R.E.  In the early hours of the morning of the 31^st of July the British launched the third Ypres offensive and triggered the bloody conflict at Passchendaele.  Torrential rain was falling as the sappers of the 254^th Tunnelling Company were sent forward to work on the roads in the front line in late June in preparation for the offensive.  This was a particularly devastating time for the company, a period when the 254^th Tunnelling Company lost 16 men as a result of enemy action, the majority of the losses occurring on the 19^th of June.  The unit war diary names the area of activity in which the company was working as St. Jean and Wieltje.  The working conditions were extremely difficult as the terrain, already churned up by artillery fire and destroyed German fortifications had been turned into a quagmire by the heavy rain.  Teams of sappers became exposed to enemy fire resulting in heavy casualties. 

† Acting Major Alfred Osborn Wraith, killed in action, 13 June 1917[10]

Figure 10.  Major Alfred Osborn Wraith, R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)  

†177478 Sapper James Hooton died of wounds on the 18 June 1917

† 132934 Lance Corporal William Austin, died of wounds on 19 June 1917

† 175888 Sapper Henry Chapman, died of wounds on 19 June 1917

† 121976 Sapper William Green, killed in action on 19 June 1917

† 136017 Sapper Isaac Lewis, killed in action on 19 June 1917

† 175847 Sapper George Platt, died of wounds on 19 June 1917

Figure 11.  Sapper George Platt, R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

† 146070 Sapper Alfred Skillman, killed in action on 19 June 1917

† 80325 Driver James Thomas, killed in action on 19 June 1917

† 102582 Sapper William James Walters, died of wounds on 20 June 1917

† 79470 Sapper John Barr, killed in action on 21 June 1917

† 151297 Corporal Gerald Clair Menear, died of wounds on 1 July 1917

† 132985 Sapper Harold Clarke, killed in action on 6 July 1917

† 132373 Sapper John Wilcock, killed in action on 6 July 1917

† 156545 Sapper Jenkin Evans, killed in action on 12 July 1917

† 158098 Sapper George Worswick, died of wounds on 15 July 1917

† 132114 Sapper William Jones, killed in action on 25 July 1917

            From 31^st of July (date of the start of the British offensive) to the 2^nd of August 1917 the company took part in the Battle of Pilckem in the XIX Corps area.  On the first day of that battle the 254^th Tunnelling Company lost 2^nd Lieutenant William Edwin Wallace, R.E.[11]  Along with 2^nd Lieutenant Wallace on the same day the company also lost 197829 Sapper John Charles Elson, killed in action and Sapper Albert Richard Mallows, who died of wounds.  The following day 84655 Pioneer Benjamin Riseborough died of wounds.

            The company suffered the loss of 14 Other Ranks during and immediately following the Battle of Pilckem.  These casualties included the following men:

† 175767 Sapper William Hills, gunshot wounds in both legs, died of wounds on 4 August 1917

† 193331 Sapper William M. Price, died of wounds on 5 August 1917 

† 91935 Sapper John Dowling, died of wounds on 7 August 1917

† 139035 Sapper John McEwan, killed in action on 9 August 1917

† 121981 Sapper George Bacon, died on 11 August 1917 

            Following the Battle of Pilckem the company became involved in other actions that were not directly related to tunnelling as shown below. 

·         The Battle of Langemarck from the 16^th to the 18^th of August 1917 in the XIX Corps area.

·         The Battle of Polygon Wood from the 26^th of September to the 3^rd of October 1917 in the V Corps and II ANZAC Corps areas.  85246 Pioneer Samuel James Fiske died during this battle on the 28^th of September.

Figure 12.  Pioneer Samuel James Fiske, R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Roll of Honour)  

·         The Battles of Broodseinde (4 October 1917), Poelcappelle (7 October 1917) and Passchendaele (12 October 1917) all in the II ANZAC Corps area with the Australian Corps Engineer Troops.  During this period the company was under the command of Captain H.H.W. Boyes, R.E. and it was put to work on repairing and maintaining the Wieltje-Gravenstafel Road, the Oxford Road, the Potijze-Zonnebeke Road and Cambridge Road.  The company suffered 9 fatalities during or immediately after these battles, with the 22^nd of October being the most costly day.

† 91945 Sapper Tom Baldwin, killed in action on 22 October 1917

† 112956 Sapper George Thomas Davis, died of wounds on 22 October 1917

† 102300 Sapper William Elliott, died of wounds on 22 October 1917

† 157811 Sapper John Lewis, died of wounds on 22 October 1917

† 193221 Sapper Albert Lowe, killed in action on 22 October 1917

† 158077 Sapper George Edwin Richards, died of wounds on 22 October 1917

† 156487 Sapper Frederick Thomas, killed in action on 22 October 1917

† 198001 Sapper Philip Williams, killed in action on 22 October 1917

† 151296 Sapper Edward Walsh, killed in action on 24 October 1917

·         From the 26^th of October to the 12^th of November 1917 the company was again in action at Passchendaele under the Canadian Corps.  It worked on the Potijze-Zonnebeke Road and lost six men during this period, including:

† 86297 2^nd Corporal Edgar Cook, died of wounds on 29 October 1917[12]

† 136463 Sapper Thomas Thomas, died of wounds on 29 Oct 1917

† 158313 Sapper Alfred Dawes, died of wounds on 30 October 1917

† 175666 Sapper Edwin Taylor, died of wounds on 30 October 1917

† 175891 Sapper Albert Nightingale, wounded with a gunshot wound to the face on 31 July 1917,[13] killed in action on 3 November 1917

† 155822 Sapper Harry Palfreyman, died of wounds on 4 November 1917

† 156539 Sapper Robert Wills, killed in action on 4 November 1917

† Lieutenant William Rolland Turner, M.M., R.E., died of wounds on 10 November 1917[14]

† 156543 Acting 2^nd Corporal John Davies, died of wounds on 12 November 1917

            From the 21^st of November to the 26^th of December 1917 the 254^th Tunnelling Company worked on the Potijze-Zonnebeke Road, on trench construction, construction of artillery and battalion dugouts and forward billets for men of the company.  From the 19^th of December 1917 until the 28^th of March 1918 the company also worked on Primus, a deep sand ridge dugout in the Passchendaele area.  The Primus dugout was a dugout system excavated following the capture of the Passchendaele ridge in 1917. It was situated at the ridge top.  It was a rather more substantial and deeper mined dugout system than many others in the area.  The dugout was believed to have accommodated up to approximately 300 men. Official war diaries (PRO WO 95/335) show that the system was of substantial size, having at least five stairways and two shafts, one of which may have been a steel construction. The dugout consisted of officers’’ accommodations and other headquarters necessities, such as a mess room and cookhouse.  Soldiers and non-commissioned officers slept in bunks in 2-meter-wide galleries. An observation post, situated on the east side of the ridge crest, had a laddered shaft and a separate exit. The depth to the dugout roof varied between 6 and 7 meters.[15]  The company did not suffer any fatal casualties during this period. 

NOTE: A summary of all fatalities suffered by the 254^th Tunnelling Company during the entire war can be found in Addendum 1.  In addition to Richards, the officers killed in action and the Officers Commanding the 254^th Tunnelling Company, the following officers also were known to have served in the company:  

Lieutenant Edwin Albert Baker, R.E.

Lieutenant John Bowen, M.C., R.E.[16]

Lieutenant John French, M.C., M.M., R.E.[17]

Figure 13.  Lieutenant John French, M.C., M.M., R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of METRO News)

2^nd Lieutenant Henry Herbert Potts, R.E.[18]

Captain George Maitland-Edwards, Special List, attached 254th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers (formerly of the Royal Artillery).[19]  

2nd Lieutenant William James Dean, Special List (attached 254th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers).[20]  

            Some time in 1918 Lieutenant Richards left the 254^th Tunnelling Company and was posted to the Department of Employment in the Ministry of Labour at some unknown locations, perhaps in Italy.  The only reason for thinking that he might have been posted to Italy is the fact that on the 8^th of February 1916 the Officer Commanding for the Directory of Works, Italy forwarded a roll of officers to the Army Medal Office indicating that Richards was entitled to the 1914-15 Star.[21]  Richards relinquished his commission on the 24^th of July 1919 upon completion of his service.  

4.  MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS  

             James Foster Richards applied for his 1914-15 Star on the 27^th of February 1920 and the medal was issued to him on the 25^th of May of that year.  He had previously been authorized the award of the British War Medal and Victory Medal on the 6^th of May 1921 as indicated on the Royal Engineers roll for these two medals.

Figure 14.  Lieutenant James Foster Richards Trio of Great War Medals.
(Image from the author’s collection)

             The Medal Index Card showing his entitlement to these medals is presented below.  

Figure 15.  Medal Index Card of James Foster Richards (front).
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

Figure 16.  Medal Index Card of James Foster Richards (back).
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

            The Medal Index Card indicates that his address in 1920 was c/o Mrs. Shugg who was living at Thaddam, near Hayle, in Cornwall.  Shugg was his mother’s maiden name, so it is uncertain who this Mrs. Shugg was.  His medals were sent to him at Bellevue Terrace, Tuckingmill, Camborne, Cornwall.   

5.  MARRIAGE AND POST SERVICE LIFE  

Marriage and Family Information

            James Foster Richards married Miss Dorothy Isabella Bennett[22] in Penzance, Cornwall during the 3^rd Quarter of 1919.[23]  Obviously Richards had returned from Italy by that time, and may have just been released from the Army.  Mrs. Richards gave birth to a son, James Foster Richards, the following year.

Work as a Mining Engineer

            After leaving the Army Richards appeared to have taken up his former occupation as a Mining Engineer.  On the 19^th of January 1923 he departed from London aboard HMT Dongola, bound for Yokohama, Japan.  His last address in the U.K. was shown as Barripper Road, Camborne[24] on the ship’s manifest and his country of last permanent residence was listed as the Dutch Indies.

            On the 23^rd of April 1923 he arrived at Southampton aboard RMS Saxon from Durban, South Africa via Madeira, Portugal.[25]  It is not known whether he had remained out of the U.K. during the entire period from January 1923 to April 1923 or whether he had gone on two separate voyages.  His occupation on each ship’s manifest was listed as Mining Engineer.  His wife and son are not listed on either manifest, so it must be assumed that they remained in the U.K. while he was away.

            Richards is shown arriving at Southampton aboard MV Carnarvon Castle from Durban, Natal via Cape Ports and Madeira on the 5^th of November 1929.[26]  He is listed as a Third Class Passenger and Mining Engineer with his country of last permanent residence shown as the Dutch East Indies.  His proposed address in the U.K. is shown as 2 Beacon Road, Marazion, Cornwall.[27]  Again, he is shown as making this journey without his family.

            Richards’ father, James, died on Christmas day in 1929 at Tuckingmill, Camborne.  At the time of his father’s death Richards and his wife and son were living at 42 Park Road in Camborne.[28]  James Richards will was probated at London on the 16^th of January 1930.  His heirs were his son, James Foster Richards (Mining Engineer), one George Rosevear (Bill-Poster) and Henry Dunstan (Accountant).  James Richards’ effects amounted to £439 11s 9d (about US $45,800 in 2018 Dollars).[29]

            Following his father’s death Richards continued his travels abroad pursuing his mining engineering career.  On the 18^th of July 1930 he arrived at Southampton aboard RMSP Asturias from Buenos Aires, Argentina (no record of his departure from the U.K.).  He had been residing in Argentina and he planned to live at 37 Moring Road, London S.W.17 on his arrival home.[30]  Again, he was not accompanied by his family.

            On the 7^th of February 1931 he departed from London aboard MV Highland Monarch bound for Argentina once more.  He returned to Southampton aboard RMS Alcantara from Brazil and the River Plate.  He was returning to his address at 37 Moring Road in London.[31]

Final Years

            James Foster Richards appears to have worked at his profession into the nineteen thirties when he retired to become a Market Garden Owner while living at 1 Beacon Road in Marazion, Cornwall.[32]

            Richards’ son, James Foster Richards, joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was a Sub-Lieutenant aboard HMS Algerine during World War II.  On the 15^th of November 1942 HMS Algerine was the lead ship of her namesake class of minesweepers built for the Royal Navy during World War II, the Algerine-class minesweepers. Initially assigned to the North Sea, she was transferred to lead the 12th Minesweeping Flotilla. The Flotilla was posted to the Mediterranean to assist with Operation Torch. In 1942, after a successful mine clearing operation off Bougie, she was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Ascianghi, causing Algerine to sink, leaving only eight survivors.  Sub-Lieutenant Richards was not one of the survivors. 

Figure 17.  HMS Algerine.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

Figure 18.  Italian Submarine Ascianghi.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

            At the time of their son’s death the Richards were living in Marazion, Cornwall.  Their son is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 71, Column2.

Figure 19.  Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 71, Column 2.
(Photograph courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission).  

            The will of Sub-Lieutenant James Foster Richards, R.N.V.R. was probated at Bodmin, Cornwall on the 13^th of July 1943.  His heirs were his parents and his effects amounted to £169 18s 3d (about US $10,500 in 2018 Dollars).[33]

            James Foster Richards died on the 26^th of December 1950 in his residence at 1 Beacon Road, Marazion, Cornwall.  His will was probated at Bodmin to his widow, Dorothy Isabella Richards, with his effects amounting to £2,129 4s 5d (about US $77,520 in 2018 Dollars).  Dorothy died at age 71 in September of 1967 at Penzance.

ADDENDUM NO .1 

Summary of all Fatal Casualties Suffered by the 254^th Tunnelling Company during the Great War of 1914-1918  

Fatalities by Month and Year  

 Fatalities by Rank  

 Fatalities by Cause of Death  

NOTES:

(1)   31.3 percent of the company’s fatalities occurred during the months of June, July and August of 1917 as a result of the unit’s activities during the battles of Pilckem and Langemarck.

(2)   15.6 percent of the company’s fatalities occurred during the month of October 1917 during the battles at Polygon Wood, Broodseinde and the two battles at Passchendaele.

(3)   Among the Other Ranks, Sappers suffered most heavily in the unit with 80.5% of the casualties.  Only one senior non-commissioned officer lost his life during the war.  He was 94675 Sergeant William Robert Langford of Newcastle, Staffordshire, who was killed in action on the 17^th of May 1918. 

ADDENDUM NO. 2

The Travels of James Foster Richards as a Mining Engineer.

Figure A2-1.  Richards arrived at Southampton aboard RMS Asturias from Lisbon, Portugal on 4 May 1912.  He also arrived on this ship at Southampton from Buenos Aires, Argentina on 18 July 1930.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

Figure A2-2.  Richards departed from London aboard HMT Dongola on 19 January 1923 bound for Yokohama, Japan. 
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

Figure A2-3.  Richards arrived at Southampton from Durban, South Africa on 23 April 1923 aboard RMS Saxon.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

Figure A2-4.  Richards arrived at Southampton from Durban, South Africa on 5 November 1929  aboard MV Carnarvon Castle.  
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

Figure A2-5.  Richards departed from London bound for Argentina on 7 February 1931 aboard RML Highland Monarch.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

Figure A2-6.  Richards arrive at Southampton from Brazil in 1931 aboard RMS Alcantara.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia.com)  

 ADDENDUM NO. 3

The Residences of James Foster Richards

Figure A3-1.  1 (left) and 2 (right) Beacon Road, Marazion, Cornwall.  Richards lived at 2 Beacon Road in 1929 and at 1 Beacon Road in 1950.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)

Figure A3-2.  42 Park Road, Camborne, Cornwall.  This was Richards’ residence in 1930.  
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth).

Figure A3-3.  37 Moring Road, London.  Richards resided here for a time in 1930.
(Image courtesy of Google Earth.

 REFERENCES

Army Lists

 Monthly Army List, June 1919, p. 811.

 Books

 1.    Officers and Soldiers Died in the Great War.  The Naval & Military Press Ltd., Heathfield, East Sussex, 1998.

 2.      JONES, S.  Underground Warfare, 1914-1918.  Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, 2010.

 Cemetery Records

 Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Roll of Honour

 Census  

1. 1891 Census of England and Wales. RG12/1848.

2. 1911 Census of England and Wales.

3. 1939 England and Wales Register.

Correspondence

1. Index card from Richard Crawford (1977), accompanying the medals.

2. Letter from the Department of Employment, London, 15 July 1977, re: Records of James Foster Richards.

Family Trees  

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/3159701/person/25352113258/facts?_phsrc=EgL3629&_phstart=success  

Internet Web Sites

1.    254th Tunnelling Company.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/254th_Tunnelling_Com
2.    HMS Algerine (J213).  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Algerine_(J213)
3.    Italian submarine Ascianghi.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_submarine_Ascianghi

4. Eric W. Nye, Pounds Sterling to Dollars: Historical Conversion of Currency. http://www.uwyo.edu/numimage/currency.htm.

5. Great War Forum.  https://www.greatwarforum.org/

6. Cheshire Roll of Honour.  https://www.cheshireroll.co.uk/soldier/?i=18861/175847-sapper-george-platt

7. Chesterfield’s Casualties of World War I.  

www.stmartinchelsfield.org.uk/Hills%20family.pdf

8. The Warnham Society.  http://www.warnhamsociety.org.uk/Projects/WW1/NIGHTINGALE_Albert_John.htm

9. DEDICATION WALL.  Forces War Records.  https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/dedication-wall?page=22

10. Environmental implications of military mining in Flanders, Belgium, 1914-1918.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226781223_Geo-environmental_implications_of_military_mining_in_Flanders_Belgium_1914-1918

11. Birmingham Pals Living History Association.  http://www.birminghampals.com/markdown-17/markdown-21/

12. THE TUNNELLER’ MEMORIAL, Givenchy.  http://www.tunnellersmemorial.com/thomas-collins/

13. Imperial War Museum.  https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205391151

14. Google Earth.

London Gazette  

1. Supplement to The London Gazette, 30 March 1916, p. 3446.

2. Supplement to The London Gazette, 4 August 1916.

3. Supplement to the London Gazette, 13 February 1918, pp. 2008 and 2009.

4. Supplement to the London Gazette, 22 March 1922, p. 2402.

Medal Rolls  

1. Medal Index Card.

2. British War Medal and Victory Medal roll.

Periodicals  

1. Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.  The Royal Engineers Journal, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932.

2. Bulletin No. 148, Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, January 11, 1917.

3. METRO News.  https://metro.co.uk/2009/10/28/war-diaries-tell-of-a-truce-for-teasing-509819/?ito=cbshare

4. Tamworth Herald, 22 July 1916.

Registers

1.      England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915.
2.      England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005.

3. Probate Calendar, 1951, p. 831.

4. Commonwealth War Graves Register, 1939-1947, Portsmouth, Part 8, p. 563.

5. Mt. Edgecumbe Masonic Lodge Register, p. 182.

6.      England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966.

7. Camborne School of Mines Roll of Honour.  http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cornwall/CamborneSchoolOfMines.html

Ships Manifests  

1. Asturia, 4 May 1912.

2. Dongola, 19 January 1923.

3. R.M.S. Saxon, 2 April 1923.

4. Carnarvon Castle, 5 November 1928.

5. M.V. “Highland Monarch,” 7 February 1931.

6. Alacantara, 5 January 1932.

War Diary  

254^th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, 1 July 1916 to 31 December 1918.

ENDNOTES