Second World War Boxed Casualty Medal Group of 3 - Flying Officer Robert Edwin Richardson
1939-45 Star - unnamed as issued
France and Germany Star - unnamed as issued
British War Medal - unnamed as issued
Comes with original box of issue addressed to "F. Richardson Esq., 104 Bury Rd, Hemel Hempstead, Herts." and also the medal issue slip "Flying Officer R. E. Richardson".
Flying Officer Robert Edwin Richardson (157522) was born around 1923, the son of Frank and Jane Richardson of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He was educated locally and later entered the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, training under the Warrant Officer Program before qualifying as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner.
By 1943 he was serving with No. 103 Squadron, Royal Air Force, part of Bomber Command, operating from RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire. His commission as an officer was announced in the London Gazette on 24 March 1944, confirming his promotion to Flying Officer with effect from 9 November 1943.
The squadron was equipped with Avro Lancaster I heavy bombers and took part in nightly raids over occupied Europe and Germany, targeting industrial centres, rail lines, oil refineries, and, later in the war, the launch and storage sites of Germany’s new V-weapons. These operations were long, perilous missions flown through heavy flak and fighter defences, and 103 Squadron suffered extremely high losses throughout 1944.
On the night of 30–31 August 1944, Flying Officer Richardson was serving aboard Lancaster I LM243, one of a formation of aircraft detailed to attack a V-2 rocket storage depot at Agenville, about five miles south of Auxi-le-Château, in northern France. The raid was part of the wider Allied effort to disrupt Germany’s secret V-weapon programme, which threatened London and southern England with a new wave of long-range rocket attacks.
Richardson’s aircraft failed to return to base and was later confirmed to have been shot down during the raid, crashing near the target area. All onboard were killed. He was just 21 years old. His death was recorded as killed in action, and he was laid to rest with his comrades in Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France (Plot 7, Row B, Grave 2).
His headstone bears the inscription chosen by his family:
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”
Flying Officer Richardson’s sacrifice is also commemorated in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, the UK Allied Airmen Roll of Honour, and the Index of International Bomber Command Losses. His entry records his final mission, noting that he was “shot down during a raid on a V-2 Rocket Storage Depot at Agenville, 5 miles south of Auxi-Le-Château.”
At the time of his death, his parents Frank (1877–1967) and Jane Richardson (d. 1946) were still living in Hemel Hempstead, and his name remains listed among the town’s fallen.
Flying Officer Robert Edwin Richardson exemplified the courage and quiet determination of Bomber Command aircrew, who faced nightly dangers over occupied Europe in the hope of hastening victory. His life was cut short at only twenty-one years of age, but his service and sacrifice remain honoured both in France, where he lies, and at home in Hertfordshire, where his name is remembered.
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AJMS Medals