In Loving Memory Mr F L Richards (Richie)

 

‘Richie’ Richards joined the RAF in 1941 in Plymouth and was posted to Gunnery Training at Blackpool where he became an Air Gunner (rear) and was posted to 192 Squadron.

 

 

He was initially based at Foulsham and began operations over Germany mainly flying in Wellingtons. He flew from several aerodromes, including Swanton Morley, Mildenhall etc. He was involved in operations to discover the German radar frequency using specially adapted planes with Special Operators, for this he was awarded the DFM presented by King George VI at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh.

 

He was transferred to the Desert Air Force serving in Egypt. He completed a full sixty operations and was transferred to Coastal Command (Lossiemouth) eventually completing his RAF career training new Air Gunners. He rose to the rank of Warrant Officer and married my mother who he met at RAF Lossiemouth. He often talked about his RAF service and regularly corresponded with his old comrades in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

 

After the war, he trained as a bricklayer and worked on several local sites including the restoration of Smithfield Hall. After a particularly bad winter, he found employment working as a press operator at Lorival Ltd, eventually progressing to Senior Supervisor in the Battery Container Division.

 

By Richie’s Son: Michael A Richards

 

 

This article is from the Winter 2006 issue of Confound and Destroy