Trooper Albert Richards

10th Hussars

 

This is a collection of hand-drawn postcards posted by two British soldiers to Miss Mary Rust of London.

Most were sent by Trooper Albert Ernest Richards of the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars (No.1936). Richards was born in 1887 in Dolton, Devon, the son of Henry and Amy Richards. He enlisted in the 10th Hussars on 13 January 1908 and arrived in France with the regiment on 6 October 1914. He was discharged on 13 February 1919 under Paragraph 392 xvi (a) of King's Regulations, being "surplus to military requirements (having suffered impairment since entry into the service)".

Also included are some images from Richards' 1916 sketch-book, Links with the Past, which is held by the York Castle Museum.

While not directly related to the North Irish Horse, the comic pictures he drew of life as a cavalryman on the Western Front would have been instantly recognisable to the Horsemen, officers and men alike.

 

Click on a thumbnail image below for a larger view and more information.

 

Albert Richards postcards

... doing well
Never judge a horse by his coat
Apres la guerre
Kiss me Corporal
Off to the front

 

Goodbye old chum
Trotting him up!
Some Bummey
Find the German submarine
Somewhere in France

 

 

Xmas 1915
Mail up No.1
Mail up No.2
Too much Xmas pudding
Feed!

 

 

Myself by myself
First Troop pet
The limit!
A trying position
When I return

 

 

21 day's C.B.
On leave No.1
On leave No.2
Somewhere in France
Little Willie's Easter Egg
Ready for the gap
The start and finish of a day's march
So near and yet so far
Officer of the 1917 class
Giving him the push at last
Preparing the way
Bantam and Prussian Guard
Impossible to write at present
Somme mud
Quite a change
The fooball news
Goodbye nurse
Steam up!
Tidworth to Eastbourne
Doing her bit
Cavalry cripple
Doing my bit
Officer Anglaise

 

 

 

Other postcards collected by Mary Rust

Tommy's anthem
We play football out here

 

 

 

Links with the Past, sketchbook by Albert Richards